Philanthropy March 25, 2013

Purple Day: Raising Epilepsy Awareness

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Tomorrow, March 26th, is Purple Day. A day to raise awareness for epilepsy. Epilepsy is a disease that is very close to my heart as my sister was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 16 years old. This has had a huge impact on my life and has really influenced the way I approach things and see the world. Epilepsy is a condition of the brain that is characterized by recurrent seizures and approximately 1 in 26 people will develop epilepsy at some point in their lifetime. Throughout history, there has been a lot of myths about epilepsy but it is not contagious or a psychological disorder.

There is no “cure” for epilepsy and approximately 65 million people around the world are living with epilepsy today.

I love that Purple Day was started by Cassidy Megan, she was motivated by her own struggles with epilepsy and wanted to raise awareness and create a community to support others struggling. I think one of the most important things that can be done is to raise awareness for epilepsy. I know through experience that people who have epilepsy often feel very alone in their battle.

Here are a few facts about epilepsy:

1. Approximately 2.2 million Americans are living with epilepsy.
2. More than 300,000 Canadians are living with epilepsy.
3. Julius Caesar, Vincent Van Gogh and Charles Dickens all had epilepsy.

I encourage everyone to participate and wear purple on Tuesday to support and raise awareness for epilepsy. If you want to learn more about epilepsy and Purple Day please visit www.purpleday.org.

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EpilepsyPurple Day
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