Running for Epilepsy Research and Access to Epilepsy Care

Dear Friend,

Three years ago epilepsy became part of my family. I awoke to find my wife Fallyn, my better half, having a generalized seizure. Even though in my work I see and treat seizing patients, this was different. This was personal and terrifying and paralyzing. 20 years of desensitization evaporated. Fallyn had a remote seizure history as a child following a traumatic brain injury but had been off of medications and seizure free for over 25 years. Though epilepsy has re-entered her life with a vengeance, she is still the rock of our family and remains an elite athlete.

We are running the Chicago Marathon together for the first time since 2018, in addition to my brother and her sister. Running with them and for this charity fills me with joy.

Even though working in healthcare has given our family knowledge of how to navigate our complex healthcare system, those first few months were fraught with difficulty and uncertainty. Challenges remain. For those without access to outstanding medical care for epilepsy, I can't imagine the difficulty. The Danny Did Foundation works to raise money for research in epilepsy and for the dissemination of life saving early warning technology to those who need it or cannot afford it. Please consider donating to this outstanding cause.

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 Foundations 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. Danny Did Foundation takes its 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.