“And to be diagnosed with that brain disease is a frightening and soul-destroying thing,” the Beechworth woman said. “Dementia is a terminal disease.

“If you’re diagnosed with dementia, people tend to drop you like a stone, and think, ‘That’s it’.

“That’s not it, somebody with dementia is still able to do a lot of things and you’re still able to have a really good life together, but just moulding to what they can do and what they can’t do.”

During September’s Dementia Awareness Month, Mrs Nash talked of caring for her late husband Michael as he lived with primary progressive aphasia.

“He could speak on any subject at the drop of a hat, never had any trouble finding words and that’s what I noticed first, that he was hesitant on finding words and that increased over time,” she said. “It all happened so slowly that you just fall into the role of being a carer, you have to take on more and more responsibility. You mould and you just gradually fit into what’s happening daily to you.”

Dementia describes a collection of symptoms that are caused by disorders affecting the brain, impacting on thinking, behaviour and the ability to perform everyday tasks. According to Alzheimer’s Australia, 1719 people in the Albury electorate live with dementia, which is expected to increase to an estimated 3988 by 2056. In Benambra, today’s estimate of 1070 people may increase to 4595 by 2050.

Mrs Nash said Alzheimer’s Australia Victoria assisted her at a time when few services were readily available.

“Nobody tells you what you’re likely to expect, they just tell you to go away and get on with it,” she said.

“While you’re going through all this you haven’t got the time or the energy to look outside of the square of where to get help.”

Since her husband’s death in 2014, Mrs Nash has helped set up a carers support group in Beechworth.

“Being a carer, you are really feeling the anxiety, the loss, the grief, over a very long period of time watching the person close to you deteriorate,” she said. “These are big, fierce emotions.”

Alongside that comes all the additional planning, financial responsibilities, living arrangements and paperwork the carer has to take on over time.

“You are ‘it’,” Mrs Nash said.

“It all comes down on your shoulders and they have to be very broad.

“The important thing is people with dementia are still the same person they always were and they need love and respect even more.”