VERO BEACH — November is national Epilepsy Awareness Month and Vero Beach teen Christopher Flaig, with help from the Epilepsy Foundation of Florida (EFOF) is holding an Epilepsy Awareness – Give Back! evening of food and fun, on Thursday, Nov. 3, from 5 to 8 p.m., at the Mulligan’s Beach House Bar & Grill,1025 Beachland Blvd. in Vero Beach. Mulligan’s will donate 10 percent of all proceeds from the event to EFOF.
Each year, some 50,000 Americans die from seizures and related causes. Flaig is one of the more than 375,000 Floridians living with epilepsy, the third most common neurological disorder in the US after Alzheimer’s and stroke.
About as many people have epilepsy as have cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease – combined. More people die yearly from seizure-related causes than die from breast cancer.
Flaig wants to raise awareness about epilepsy since he says that “living with epilepsy is difficult in lots of ways, but it is often the stigma and ignorance surrounding epilepsy that stops us from coming to grips with this widespread and devastating disorder.”
“Unfortunately, people die each year from epilepsy and, in many cases, these deaths could have been prevented” he says.
A student at St. Edwards School high school in Vero Beach, Flaig is a D-1 college prospect football player, basketball player, academic achiever and he had major brain surgery just four years ago.
The procedure involved removing a major section of his right temporal lobe that was the source of recurrent seizures. Today, Flaig is seizure fee and looking ahead to a bright future.
EFOF was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) and is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year. The organization serves as the lead advocate for the rights and needs of people with epilepsy and seizure disorders at the local, county and state level.
EFOF provides valuable services, regardless of financial situation, to individuals and their families including advocacy, case management, information, referral, support, medical services, neuropsychological services, prevention and education, individual and family counseling, research, resource materials, support groups, and children’s camp.
For more information, visit www.EpilepsyFLA.org or call 877-553-7453.
