The story of the man on the M11

Dear Resident,

It’s 1pm on a Saturday. You call us to report your husband missing. You last saw him when he left the house two hours ago. 

When you call him, the line is muffled and all you hear is him say ‘I’m on the motorway’ before the phone cuts out. You’ve been out searching for him, but with no luck, and the tracker you set up on his phone as an added safety measure isn’t working. 

This was the reality for one woman in a small South Cambs village recently, who told our call handler that her husband is in his 80s and suffers from dementia. Usually when he leaves home he returns safely – but not today.

Less than 10 minutes later, we get a second call from a motorist saying he’d spotted a man who looked very disorientated and confused walking on the hard shoulder of the M11, near junction 10 at Duxford.

Officers visited the area and found the man safe and well, 22 minutes after the initial call. We then took him home and reunited him with his worried wife. 

We also took the time to fix the tracking app on the man’s phone, and told his wife all about our two new ways to help keep people living with dementia in Cambridgeshire safe.

This included our new Herbert Protocol form which can be filled out online - and encourages family and friends to collate key info such as a physical description, familiar places, health details and a recent photo of a loved one with dementia that will help officers if they go missing.

More than 135 people have already done the same. We’ve also handed out hundreds of new yellow wristbands, like a watch in appearance, to the most vulnerable members of our community living with dementia. 

The wristbands contain the person’s next of kin’s contact details and number. 

If you see someone looking confused or disorientated but wearing one of these wristbands, you can use your phone to easily bring up the information and reunite the person with their family –possibly without the need to call police. 

There are more than 10,000 people living in Cambridgeshire with dementia. To register your interest for one of the new wristbands, watch a quick video on how to scan the new wristbands, or fill out our new Herbert Protocol form for a loved one, visit our website by clicking on this link.

Kind regards,