Epilepsy Association of the Maritimes kicks off awareness month with Purple Day Gala

Cassidy Megan, Angela McCarthy and Susan Rahey are seen. (CTV/Emma Convey)

March is Epilepsy Awareness Month in Canada. Its four weeks focused on educating the community as well as raising awareness about the neurological disorder.

“Our clients suffer, they have a hidden disability so often their issues are overlooked and they are forced to live in our world where we can cope and do all kinds of things that are difficult for them and so until people become more aware of epilepsy as a hidden disability they will be forced to live in this clouded area, this grey dark area that is unrecognized,” says Susan Rahey, Epilepsy Association of the Maritimes education and support coordinator.

This association has been somewhere Cassidy Megan and her family have turned to for support since her diagnosis at the age of seven.

“I was daydreaming in class, I was falling down the stairs every time I came downstairs to help with laundry or play on the computer, I would just fall down as if my legs had no bones in them,” says Megan, Purple Day founder.

Megan knew something wasn’t right before she was diagnosed, but a seizure disorder was not something she or her family was expecting. Seizures can present differently in everyone, so this diagnosis came as a shock to them.

“For us as a family it was kind of devastating because we didn’t know what this was going to mean for her future. Would she be able to live independently, a lot of what ifs and unknowns,” says Angela McCarthy, Epilepsy Association of the Maritimes president and Megan’s mother.

McCarthy says she doesn’t know what they would have done if they hadn’t turned to the association. The support they received motivated her to start helping others and getting involved with the team.

“I can’t imagine how scary it would have been to do this journey without the association. I am thinking of the people that just want to give up, but the association is here to help them not,” says McCarthy.

Almost one in every 100 Canadians live with epilepsy, and there are so many stigmas and misunderstandings behind it.

“The brain just cannot cope with the amount of the electrical impulses that are being produced all at the same time erratically and something shuts down or does not behave properly that is controlled by the brain,” says Rahey.

There are different types of seizures, generalized and focal, but there are different symptoms for everyone.

“Sometimes they happen in sleep, and I dislocate my shoulder or there is lots of stuff that can happen. People will recognize those locally recognized ones. Sometimes you lose your vision, sometimes you lose your ability to speak, sometimes you lose awareness of your surroundings,” says Rahey.

During Epilepsy Awareness Month, the association hosts its annual Purple Day Gala. It is hosted at the Westin in downtown Halifax on Saturday and is an opportunity for the community to learn, support, and raise awareness together.

“Quake Matthews will be performing, Maddie Frisby, Karen Williams and some more that I know I am forgetting. All the artists and performers either have or have been impacted by Epilepsy in some way,” says Megan.

There will be an auction for the art, and part of those proceeds will go towards the artists themselves and the rest back to the Epilepsy Association of the Maritimes to support those with epilepsy and their families.

“We have this touch of gold honeycomb hexagon necklace, so that’s one of our raffles and the other if you’re a sports fan, I don’t know sports, but I know enough to get by. We have a Toronto blue jays signed baseball by Vladimir Guerrero Junior,” said Megan.

This year is different as it is a standing cocktail gala with seating available. There are still tickets available on their website.

The gala is not only a way to educate the public but also supports those living with Epilepsy.

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