Advertisement
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080329/17897 )
The stars coming out to join in the epilepsy cause included Walk chair, Greg Grunberg, from NBC's Emmy-nominated ensemble drama, Heroes. Grunberg came to D.C. with his family, including his son Jake, who has epilepsy. Alan Faneca, who recently signed with the New York Jets, and helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win SuperBowl XL, also came out to support the more than three million people in the U.S. who have epilepsy. Faneca has had the condition since he was 15.
Advertisement
Joining Faneca and Grunberg were Baltimore Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle, who was just diagnosed with epilepsy this past year; and Geoffrey Pope, who helped bring the New York Giants this year's Super Bowl title. Although Pope doesn't have epilepsy, his grandmother has experienced seizures. Pope formed his Gridiron Gang team for the Walk to encourage kids with epilepsy to follow their dreams.
"We are ecstatic that this event grew so much from last year," said Eric Hargis, president and CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation. "This is the world's largest event dedicated to raising awareness and funds for epilepsy. This year it brought more people, raised more funds, and attracted more celebrities. This is fantastic news because it means that we are bringing epilepsy out of the shadows and making it something that people are aware of and not afraid to talk about."
For more information about the Walk and to find out more about epilepsy, visit http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org and http://www.walkforepilepsy.org.
About Epilepsy:
When a person has two or more unprovoked seizures, they have epilepsy, which affects 3 million people in the United States and 40 to 50 million people worldwide. This year, another 200,000 people in our country will be diagnosed with epilepsy. To date, there is no known cure.
SOURCE Epilepsy Foundation
