HEALTH
6
Go purple for
EPILEPSY AWARENESS For the past seven years, the twin towns have been spreading the word about epilepsy, a disease that touches many. IVY JENSEN sat down with Shirley O’Bree, a woman who has survived and wants to help so many more who have a story to tell.
Shirley O’Bree
ecHuca’s sHiRleY o’BRee
is a survivor. The Cunningham Downs resident endured regular epileptic seizures for 54 years before undergoing brain surgery in 2012. Which changed her life. She went from taking seven to as many as 20 tablets a day to two and has only had one seizure since a small piece of her brain was removed. “I’ve been seizure free for seven years,” she said. The 75-year-old is one of an estimated 2.9 million people in Australia aged over 65 with epilepsy — a demographic group with the highest proportions of people with epilepsy. And since her life-changing surgery, she has been raising money for the Epilepsy Foundation as her way of saying thank you. Over the past seven years of holding Purple Day in Echuca-Moama, she has raised more than $23,000. And despite her fair share of setbacks, the epilepsy survivor continues to raise money for the charity close to her heart.
MARCH 2020
Shirley will hold a Purple Day morning tea at Cunningham Downs community hall on March 26 and is hoping for another big crowd. "It’s really grown over the years," she said. "I started off with just a small morning tea and now we get about 100 people to the morning tea and they come from all over — Kyabram, Rochester, Seymour and Bendigo. "Apart from the Biggest Morning Teas for cancer, mine is one of the biggest morning teas in Echuca.” While this is her main fundraiser, Shirley has also got Echuca-Moama and Rochester schools and businesses on board. And while raising money for the Epilepsy Foundation is crucial, raising awareness about the condition is just as important. As such, Shirley always organises a guest to speak at the morning teas. This year, Carolyn Lewis will discuss her teenage daughter’s battle with the neurological condition. The Lockington mother is also hoping to
reduce the stigma of epilepsy, which she says is one of the things that causes her daughter Kaitlyn the most discrimination. Read Kaitlyn Lewis’ story on pages 4 and 5. Shirley said guest speakers such as Carolyn were great at helping people better understand the condition. "A lot of people are asking questions at our morning teas and so many people are writing on the feedback forms about how much they didn’t know about epilepsy and how much they had learnt from coming along," she said. "I’m so glad to hear people speak openly about it." As well as asking people to wear a touch of purple on March 26, Shirley has placed donation tins and merchandise at various food outlets, pharmacies, Echuca Workers and Services Club and Echuca-Moama Family Medical Practice. If you are interested in attending the morning tea, which will run from 10 am, and will include food, drinks, entertainment and prizes, contact Shirley on 5480 6824 or 0418 505 243.
