HomeNews Walk for Epilepsy holds great importance for Bluefield teen, millions more
Walk for Epilepsy holds great importance for Bluefield teen, millions more
By GREG JORDAN
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
March 25, 2007
BLUEFIELD —
If the first-ever National Walk for Epilepsy meets its $1 million goal, almost
$8,000 of it will come from the efforts of a local high school student and his
family.
Aaron Payne, 18, is a Bluefield High School junior who has been schooled at home by Mercer County
teachers ever since he was a freshman. This arrangement is because of his
uncontrolled epilepsy, said his mother, Sandy Payne. Medications that normally
control seizures have not been effective.
However, this has not stopped Aaron from joining the A honor roll at BHS or
from wanting to participate in the first walk for epilepsy on March 31 in Washington, D.C.
“Hopefully, we’ll be raising a lot more money for getting a cure for epilepsy,”
he said. “This walk will raise a lot more awareness.”
Approximately 5,000 participants are expected at the event.
“Epilepsy is the most-common neurological condition in almost three million
Americans, but few people know that it can affect anyone, anywhere at any
time,” said Eric R Hagis, president and CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation. “The
goals of the walk are to raise public awareness about the condition and to secure
much needed funding to find a cure. We are also striving to create an
environment where people living with epilepsy have equal access to all life
experiences.”
As with other medical conditions such as heart disease and cancer, epilepsy
means a lifestyle change for both the patient and the patient’s family, Sandy
Payne said. For instance, according to West
Virginia law, a person with epilepsy must been
seizure-free for a year before he or she can get a driver’s license.
“For an 18-year-old, that’s a big change,” she said. “But if you met him, you
would never think anything was wrong with him.”
But like any other 18-year-old, Aaron is making plans for the future. He hopes
to become a computer game developer.
Donations can be made at the National Walk for Epilepsy website at
www.walkforepilepsy.org, Sandy Payne said.
