The RAS Walk is the single largest fundraising and awareness event in Minnesota and North Dakota to benefit people with seizures. The EFMN's RAS Walk in Duluth is on August 1, 2019. Funds raised from the walk are used to educate, connect and empower people living with seizures and honor their loved ones. 100% of the funds raised in each of our regions are reinvested directly back into the community! Epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological condition after migraine, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease. It affects people of all ages, and can manifest in many different ways. Current statistics indicate one in 10 people will have a seizure during their lifetime, and one in 26 will develop epilepsy. We walk because even though epilepsy is common, it is still very misunderstood.
Since 2009, I have participated in the Rise Above Seizures Walk. People walk for a variety of reasons including having epilepsy, loving someone who has epilepsy, working with people who have epilepsy, or remembering someone who had epilepsy. The Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota provides programs and services that help people navigate through this experience, so no one has to face epilepsy alone. Each person’s journey is different, but we are in it together. In 2008, six years after successful brain surgery that eliminated my seizures, I was inspired to get involved after first learning about the EFMN through foster grandma Lyla who shared the heartache of losing her 35 year old son to a seizure in 2004. Lyla and I came together with her family to honor the memory of Keith, and it was the beginning of a deep passion to bring greater awareness and understanding for epilepsy. I remember being very misunderstood for most of my 21 year journey with epilepsy. Seizures don’t always involve convulsions, and many seizures are difficult to recognize unless there is adequate seizure training. I went from Kindergarten through the middle of 11th grade without a diagnosis because my doctors believed that I had outgrown epilepsy. This wasn’t true; I just wasn’t having generalized tonic clonic formerly known as grand mal seizures. I can distinctly remember what it felt like being at school or home having focal aware seizures that I called the chills. It wasn’t until I started having seizures that impaired my awareness referred to as focal impaired awareness seizures that others started to realize that something wasn’t right. It took a seizure behind the wheel to be diagnosed even though I had been actively pursuing a diagnosis for two years at this point. Knowing the personal side of epilepsy gives me perspective and compassion for those I work with, and it is the fuel for the fire of why I so passionately teach others to learn how to recognized and respond to seizures. I volunteered for the EFMN for five years while still working as an elementary school teacher before stepping into the staff position with the EFMN in the northland in 2014 where I now spend my days traveling 11 counties in northern MN carrying out the mission of the EFMN. I am grateful to do this work on behalf of those who face a brave battle each day in their epilepsy journey.
YOU CAN HELP!
Please support our team goal by making a secure, tax-deductible donation to my team.
Thank you for helping the 60,000 people with epilepsy in our community rise above seizures!
WAYS TO DONATE
1. You can donate online on this website.
2. You can write a check payable to Rise Above Seizures Walk, and write Seizure Stigma Stoppers in the memo. Please mail your check to Lisa Peterson 5540 E Koenen Rd. South Range, WI 54874
3. You can donate by cash in person.
You’re also welcome to join our team or form your own team at efmn.org/walk!
Thank you for your support of the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota and our community!
Lisa Peterson
Northland Regional Coordinator – Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota
218.624.1330
lisa.peterson@efmn.org
