mmg.com.au

Shirley O’Bree hopes Echuca’s first Purple Day for Epilepsy fundraiser on March 26 will help residents better understand the condition.

Mrs O’Bree is encouraging people to dress in purple for the morning tea at Cunningham Downs’ community hall at 9.30am.

It will include a cake stall, raffles, lucky door prizes and games.

‘‘I’m hoping for a good crowd because it’s a worthy cause,’’ she said.

‘‘There are more people with epilepsy than with Parkinson’s disease.’’

Mrs O’Bree is one of an estimated 2.9million people in Australia aged over 65 with epilepsy.

This demographic group has the highest proportions of people with epilepsy.

‘‘I want people to avail themselves to information about epilepsy so they can help people around them,’’ Mrs O’Bree said.

‘‘If people have a better understanding of epilepsy, it helps to get rid of the fear.

‘‘We owe it to people with epilepsy to do everything we can to draw attention to a condition that affects so many people in our community. We owe it to them to ensure they can take advantage of the same schooling, study, sport and social opportunities.’’

Mrs O’Bree will raise money for the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria by selling Purple Day merchandise and raffle tickets at the morning tea.

Admission is by donation. To help with catering, people are asked to ring Mrs O’Bree on 54806824 or 0418505243.

‘‘I hope people support it, so it can help with the Epilepsy Foundation with diagnosis and research and so more people are able to have the surgery that I did,’’ she said.

The Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria will run its Epilepsy Awareness Week in conjunction with Purple Day, the global effort dedicated to promoting epilepsy awareness.

Epilepsy Awareness Week, March 19 to 26, is a chance to highlight and discuss the implications of living with epilepsy, a medical condition which is often misunderstood.

Foundation chief executive officer Graeme Shears said epilepsy was a brain function disorder which took the form of recurring seizures.

‘‘Our every thought, feeling or action is controlled by brain cells that communicate with each other through regular electrical impulses,’’ he said.

‘‘A seizure occurs when sudden uncontrolled bursts of electrical activity disrupt this regular pattern.

‘‘Epileptic seizures can range in type and severity from seizures where, for example, a child might simply appear vague or distracted for a short time, right up to the more commonly-held understanding of seizures where a person might fall to the ground and experience severe body spasms, known as tonic-clonic seizures.

‘‘However, for 70 per cent of people with epilepsy, medication controls their seizures well, and they are able to live normal lives and work, drive a car, swim and do all the normal things.’’

People with epilepsy or their families can call the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria for help on 98059111 or the Epilepsy Helpline on 1300852853.