'Our dad was found wandering the road looking lost... that's when we knew we needed help'

It was early in the morning last July when Catherine received a phone call that changed everything. Her dad, Tom, who was in his 90s and already living with alzheimer's, had been found by a concerned lorry driver wandering the road looking lost and confused.

It was at that point that his family, who had been working almost around-the-clock to ensure he was getting the help and support he needed, were told by doctors that their beloved dad could no longer return home and needed to move into a specialist care facility for the remainder of his life due to his advancing dementia.

Almost a year on from his death, daughters Catherine and Clare, along with their other four siblings, are remembering their dad, who was 92-years-old when he died. As they prepare to launch fundraising efforts for a charity close to their hearts, they are speaking out to plead with other families to get help sooner and not take on the battle alone.

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Tom O'Brien had been a bus driver around Manchester for four decades. Growing up in poverty in the Northern Quarter, the working class dad had worked hard to ensure his six children had a better life. It was following the death of his wife Margaret to cancer in 2010 that he started to struggle.

His family initially thought he was battling with depression after losing his soulmate, but when he began experiencing audio and visual hallucinations, the family knew something was wrong. Described as a 'hard working Manchester man through and through' by daughters Catherine and Clare, they said dementia had initially 'never crossed their minds'.

Clare, 59, said: "He started having