'The biggest problem we have is that people have no idea about first aid'
SYDNEY — Wednesday is Purple Day, the one day in the year when people are asked to wear the colour purple to raise awareness about epilepsy.
Epilepsy, which affects over 300,000 Canadians, is the second-most common neurological condition after migraine headache, and can begin at any age. It is estimated that one in 100 people has epilepsy, and in 50 per cent of the cases the cause is unknown.
The main symptoms of epilepsy are repeated seizures. There are many different types of seizure, depending on the area of the brain affected.
Since Purple Day was initiated in 2012, things have been rather low-key here in Cape Breton, says Michelle AuCoin, who has been dealing with epilepsy since age nine and is part of a loose-knit network of people on the island who are working to raise awareness of the disease.
"There are a few of us here that do some advocacy," said AuCoin, owner of Learnability Cape Breton, a tutoring service in Sydney that works with children and adults with learning disabilities. "To be honest, the money is kind of kept in Halifax, and every year they send us a box of material to hand out to the public — bracelets, information booklets and things like that."
AuCoin and her informal network have been doing their best to get the word out ahead of Purple Day.
"My son is in cadets, so I went to their meeting and asked the cadets to spread the word throughout their schools. And my son took some information to his school and asked the principal to spread the word as well."
The most important aspect of Purple Day, she explained, is education.
"The biggest problem we have is that people have no idea about first aid (in dealing with epilepsy). If they saw someone having a seizure, in a lot of cases they just have no idea of what to do."
AuCoin, who is now 42, considers herself lucky to have been diagnosed with epilepsy at an early age. With the proper medication, she is able to live a life much like anyone else.
"For a lot of people (with epilepsy), though, they aren't living normal lives. They can't, with the frequency of their seizures — daily seizures, because they can't get their medication to work for them. But I've been really lucky."
Seizure First Aid:
• Be calm
• Remove dangerous objects
• Always time the seizure
• If the person has fallen, turn on side and put something soft under their head
• Never put anything in a person's mouth and never hold the person down
Source:Canadian Epilepsy Alliance, www.epilepsymatters.com