Peter Berry & Deb Bunt

Slow Puncture, Living well with Dementia

Six years ago, a rather disillusioned Deb took early retirement from her job at the Youth Offending Service in London and moved to Suffolk with her husband. This is where she met Peter and the two became friends and cycling partners. Deb had two ambitions in life: one - for Arsenal to win the champions league and two - to become a published writer. Meeting Peter has enabled the fulfilment of one of these ambitions. The friendship with Peter has also enabled Deb to look at life through a different lens and to appreciate the ‘here and now.’ In the six years since her move to Suffolk, Deb has acquired one broken shoulder, had two books published, accrued four grandchildren and made an extremely great and life changing friend in Peter. And Arsenal still haven’t won the champions league.

“The roll of the wheels is the dynamo that generates my day.”

Peter and Deb will talk about living well with a dementia diagnosis. Their talk will cover overcoming adversity, realising ambitions and the power of friendship. Although “Slow Puncture” was published four years ago and Peter's condition has changed, the themes in the book remain relevant. The book was one of twenty UK-wide chosen by The Reading Agency to be available in every library authority in England and Wales and has now been translated into Welsh. To celebrate the book’s inclusion onto the Reading Well for Dementia list, Peter and Deb recently were invited to the House of Commons to talk about Slow Puncture. Their story is a journey that continues…