For Immediate Release: Kentucky Girl Brings Epilepsy Message to Washington

Contact:
Peter VanHaverbeke (800) 470-1655 ext. 641
or Sylvia Blair ext. 638

Washington, D.C., March 17 2002 —- Eleven-year-old Mary Whitlock of Louisville will travel to Washington, D.C., March 17-19, 2002, to tell U.S. legislators about her experiences with epilepsy and why it’s so important to fund quality of life programs to educate the public, especially teachers, school nurses and classmates, about this serious and stigmatizing condition. Mary has battled epilepsy, a condition marked by recurrent seizures, since she was a baby.

Mary is one of 30 children from around the country participating in Kids Speak Up!, a national program sponsored for the first time by the Epilepsy Foundation. The program helps families of children with epilepsy make their voices heard in the halls of the U.S. Capitol as advocates for the nation’s 2.3 million children and adults with this disorder. Epilepsy is the most common neurological condition in children.

Mary started taking seizure medication when she was nine months old. Her seizures continued to worsen, so she had brain surgery when she was five. Mary was seizure free for a short time, but the seizures returned and worsened. She had a second brain surgery when she was seven. The surgeries helped lessen her seizures, but have not made her seizure free. Today, she has an implant, the Vagus Nerve Stimulator, to help control her seizures. Mary was selected to participate in Kids Speak Up! because she illustrates the challenges faced by more than 300,000 children with epilepsy in this country. "Children who are affected by epilepsy are helping to explain to Congress why we need additional funding to improve public awareness and combat stigma," says Linda Warner, chair of the Epilepsy Foundation and a parent of a child with epilepsy. "Children suffer when school communities do not understand, and stigma and isolation can be as painful emotionally as the seizures themselves."

Kids Speak Up! is supported by Abbott Laboratories.

Epilepsy is the third most common condition in adults after Alzheimers and stroke. Despite modern therapy, about 1 million people continue to experience seizures or significant side effects from treatment. A 1999 study showed that epilepsy costs the nation more than $12.5 billion a year.

The Epilepsy Foundation, with national offices based in metropolitan Washington, D.C., is a network of community-based, affiliated organizations that work to ensure that people with epilepsy are able to participate in all life experiences. The organization’s goals are to prevent, control and cure epilepsy through research, education, advocacy and services.