A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
Submitted by Akwesasne Epilepsy Support Group
Akwesasne-On March 26th annually, people from around the globe wear purple to promote awareness about epilepsy. This year the Akwesasne Epilepsy Support Group got together and had a huge bake sale and also sold their raffle tickets for a grand prize to be drawn on April 8th. The bake sale was a great success and they sold out! They also had information and pamphlets to hand out to people. The group were joined by employees from both the clinic and the tribe and many community members who wore purple for Epilepsy Awareness!
Purple Day was founded in 2008 by nine-year-old Cassidy Megan of Nova Scotia, Canada. Motivated by her own struggles with epilepsy, Cassidy started the day in an effort to get people talking about the disorder and reassure those with seizures that they are not alone. She named this day Purple Day after the internationally recognized color for epilepsy; lavender.
Epilepsy affects more than 3 million Americans and 50 million people worldwide. That's 1 out of every 100 people. That's more people than multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and Parkinson's disease combined! Additionally, each year in the United States, 200,000 new cases are diagnosed-45,000 of which are children under the age of 15.
Despite these statistics, epilepsy remains one of the most publicly misunderstood conditions, and misconceptions about the disorder persist. Consequently, many people with epilepsy face barriers due to a lack of public awareness. In fact, many persons with epilepsy indicate the negative perceptions of others are worse than the seizures themselves. That is why in Akwesasne we formed a support group. The making of our support group is to bring awareness about Epilepsy to the community and to support people who have epilepsy and/or a caregiver of someone with epilepsy.
If you would like to join us, our next Epilepsy Support Group Meeting will be on Wednesday, April 8th at AK Gas, Route 37 East at 5:30 pm.
Phone: 518-358-2341 leave a message
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/akwesasneepilepsysupportgroup/
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