The Moraga Walk for Epilepsy Awareness took place on April 25 at the Moraga Commons to raise money for the Epilepsy Foundation. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder. According to the World Health Organization, around 50 million people struggle with epilepsy, and it is one of the most common neurological diseases globally.
Epilepsy is a disorder that can be misrepresented. There are many different types of epilepsy, and it can be hard to understand that every case is different. Junior Paige Sandler wanted to show that people with epilepsy are not invisible. Sandler organized the walk to advocate on the behalf of those with epilepsy. Sandler’s idea for this walk actually stemmed from someone very close to her. Sandler shared her first thoughts before she put this walk together: “So my best friend has epilepsy, and my aunt suggested to my mom that I do it. and I [thought] ‘Yeah, sure’ and then I started planning everything.”
Sandler shared the agenda of this walk and how it went. “So I had an epilepsy walk, and we met at the Moraga Commons at 9 a.m. We walked towards St. Mary’s and then walked back on the bike trail. It was really fun, we had music playing.” Sandler considered putting together a lively event for the epilepsy community and in honor of her best friend to be paramount.
Families, students, and faculty members made an appearance for this uplifting gathering. Sandler shared another compelling reason for why this walk is important, “I feel like a lot of people don’t really know what it is because when I first met my best friend I didn’t know what it was. I think a lot of people don’t bring awareness to it,” said Sandler.
Sandler’s core mission was to show up for the epilepsy community with her best friend’s diagnosis as the primary catalyst for her putting this walk together. Junior Mikayla Souza champions the challenges of her diagnosis with epilepsy. Souza shared, “Well, my best friend Paige, she set up this epilepsy walk because the walk that we usually do [it is] on the day of prom, so we missed it.” Making up for the missed event was not just something that Sandler put together, but an organized event to show that participating in both prom and this walk was possible.
With a large turnout, many people who showed up had their own personal struggles that some may not have been aware of. Souza shared how it felt to hear about others’ individual journeys with epilepsy. Souza said, “it just felt really good how many people came and the other people who had epilepsy that I didn’t know or didn’t know were going to come, and it was really fun.” The epilepsy walk raised over $8,000 dollars that goes towards the Epilepsy Foundation.
This engaging and powerful walk was a big success and touched many who are a part of the epilepsy community. Spreading awareness and showing support is extremely important and Sandler and Souza made that happen. When November, Epilepsy Awareness Month, comes around we should all wear purple to show support.
