Seth's Marathon to Protect Kids with Epilepsy

All,
As many of you know, in addition to my passion for marathon running, I am a very big fan of my little brother Briggs.



The week that Kelsey and I got home from our honeymoon back in March 2013, Briggs had his first seizure. He was five years old (the photograph of me and Briggs was taken soon after his first seizure). It was completely unexpected (we had no family history of epilepsy, much less childhood epilepsy, on my mom’s side or my stepdad’s side). After his first few seizures, he was diagnosed with three kinds of epilepsy (generalized, juvenile myoclonic, and absence seizures). Needless to say, it flipped our family’s world upside down. But Briggs was tough, way tougher than me. He continued to suffer seizures and was constantly being poked, prodded, having his head shaved so that electrodes could be attached to monitor his brain activity, and blood testing to track medication-influenced toxicity levels (i.e., in an effort to identify and reduce strain on Briggs’s liver and other internal organs). A number of photographs of Briggs during his evaluations are attached.





Finally, after about a year of unabated seizures, bad side effects, and less severe but still problematic convulsions, Briggs’s team of physicians, including especially Dr. Kevin Ess with Vanderbilt Children’s Neurology, were able to get him on a balance of medications that limited the effect of his seizures. Thankfully, despite Briggs’s continued battle against absence seizures, today he has gone without a full-fledged seizure for approximately seven years, and he has been completely tapered off of his epilepsy medications as of this month, two years ago. Briggs is now fourteen years old and a rising freshman beginning this fall, with plans to play for the school’s lacrosse team. We continue to marvel at all his academic and extracurricular accomplishments in spite of the difficult condition that he faces with bravery each and every day.

Because of Briggs’s impact on my life and the great mission of the Danny Did Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to supporting epilepsy research and raising epilepsy awareness, I have decided to dedicate my 2022 Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, Alabama (Dec. 11, 2022) effort to them and the Danny Did Foundation’s fundraising campaign. Your support will go a long way for the Danny Did Foundation and all the great people affected by epilepsy who they serve.

Thanks,

Seth
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About Danny Did Foundation
Founded by Chicago parents Mike and Mariann Stanton in 2010 after the sudden death of their four-year-old son Danny, the Danny Did Foundation’s primary mission is to prevent deaths caused by seizures. The Foundation advances public awareness of epilepsy and Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), strives to improve communication about SUDEP between medical professionals and families affected by seizures, and advocates for the mainstream acceptance and use of seizure detection and prediction devices that may assist in preventing seizure-related deaths.
Epilepsy affects 3.4 million people in the United States and 65 million people worldwide. One in 26 Americans will develop epilepsy during their lifetime. But what few people understand, including many people with epilepsy, is that seizures can be fatal. More people die as a result of seizures than from fires and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) combined. In addition to deaths caused by drowning, other accidents, and status epilepticus (prolonged seizures),thousands of deaths occur annually from SUDEP, a fact that is little known and too rarely addressed by medical professionals and in public discussions of epilepsy.
The Danny Did Foundation takes it's name from the last line of Danny Stanton’s obituary, written by his dad: “Please go and enjoy your life. Danny did.” We celebrate Danny’s spirit in every child and family we reach.