Figtree resident Val Fell remembers the day, 70 years ago, when she was sitting on the Embankment watching the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
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"It was good fun, half a dozen of us fit into this big car one of the fellows had, driving around London, particularly down the Mall, where people were camping overnight to see the events of the great day," she said.
Mrs Fell was in London studying and working as a statistician at the time, and had a front row seat to the Queen's ascension to the throne.
"The office in which I was working wasn't far from Westminster Abbey, so I saw a lot of what was going on."
Today, for Mrs Fell to receive a Medal of the Order of Australia in the same week as the Queen's Jubilee felt particularly fitting.
"I saw the Queen being crowned and now 70 years later I've got a certificate with her name on it," Mrs Fell said.
The honour recognises Mrs Fell's service to people with dementia, a cause that she has committed to with gusto since her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2006.
Mrs Fell joined support groups for caring for those with Alzheimer's and dementia, and eventually founded a group based in Corrimal.
Instead of naming any one moment in that career, Mrs Fell said it was the steady and gradual effect of bringing people together to talk about Alzheimer's and dementia and how that has improved care that has been her greatest achievement.
Along the way, Mrs Fell said she has formed deep bonds with fellow carers.
"One of the people I met in 2006 - who was looking after her mother, when I was looking after my husband - we're still friends. We still go to the theatre together, we still have coffee together," she said.
"It's been a rewarding experience to be able to help other people and find ways to look after the person that has dementia."
Mrs Fell's commitment and dedication to advocacy has been recognised with the Wollongong City Council award for 2020 Senior Citizen of the Year and she has been appointed to the Council of the Elders to provide feedback on nationwide changes to aged care policy.
Behind all of this is a strong sense of social justice and Mrs Fell said she's not stopping anytime soon.
"I'll just continue to do what I can do for as long as I can to show people that you can keep going."
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