BRENDEN Judge may only be 11 but he's already proven age is no barrier to helping find a cure for a neurological disease.
In the past 18 months the Sunbury boy has raised more than $2500 for Parkinson's Victoria.
Inspired by his 'poppy', grandfather Bob Judge who was diagnosed with the disease in March last year, he has joined the fight to find a cure.
On August 29, Brenden, his grandfather, nanna Wendy and mum Janelle will take part in the Parkinson's Unity Walk in Melbourne.
Brenden is just $200 short from his goal of raising $2000. He ran two garage sales to help raise the money. His tally is more than double the $880 he raised last year, and Brenden hopes to raise even more next year.
He has also approached his school, Mowbray College in Melton, which will hold a fund-raiser for the cause at the athletics carnival on Friday.
Last year, Brenden received an award for being the youngest fund-raiser.
He feels he has some understanding of what his grandfather is going through. A Parkinson's ambassador visited his school and explained the illness to the students.
"He said to tie my shoelaces together [and then try to walk] and wear oven mits and that's how it feels to have Parkinson's. It was hard," he said.
Mr Judge said:
"I'm very proud. He talked over fund-raising with his mum. I think his mother's a bit of a driving force. Being a nurse she's seen the effects of Parkinson's.
"They were sitting around the kitchen table one night and he just felt like he needed to do something."
Mr Judge's diagnosis came as a shock to the family. At 62, he is the average age of people diagnosed with early onset of Parkinson's disease.
"I had symptoms but I didn't realise...my daughter Janelle, being a nurse, knew the symptoms and spotted them in me and said 'dad I think you should go and see a doctor'.
"When I was walking the right arm didn't swing, it just hung and when I was walking I was just scuffing, I wasn't lifting my feet high enough. It's progressively getting worse, with the same symptoms.
''My hands are starting to shake. I can't do things as quickly as I used to, especially thinking. Sometimes I'll trip over a word and I've had to find other words to say the same thing.
''There are 15,000 different symptoms, it's a totally individual disease. But my neurologist is insisting I still work. He says my Parkinson's symptoms will probably accelerate when I give up work."
Mr Judge is involved in three research projects looking for a cure.
"They're trying to find a cure and trying to find some sort of gene to make sure nothing is progressing from one generation to another."
Anyone can join the Judge family at the Unity Walk and can make a donation at Brenden's everyday hero website: www.unitywalkfundraising.com.au/b renden-judge-2
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