but by sharing her story, megan, now 24 years old, hopes that more people realize that epilepsy is only one aspect of a person’s life. after high school, she studied applied media and communication arts. she loves spending time with her friends, family, and her pets, and she likes to swim and hike, too.
laura dickson, president of the canadian epilepsy alliance, speaks at melt the isolation, a fundraising event for epilepsy in calgary. keith howie
megan is also the founder of purple day (purpleday.org). celebrated on mar. 26 each year around the world, it is a day that focuses on raising awareness about what it means to have epilepsy.
she recently received the 2023 ambassador for epilepsy award and the social accomplishment award at the international epilepsy congress for her contribution toward advancing the well-being and quality of life of people with epilepsy.
and she and dickson both dream of a day when epilepsy research has the funding that other medical conditions receive.
“epilepsy does not get the attention it deserves,” dickson says. “government attention and funding tend to flow to patient groups for other diseases for which there are larger budgets for advertising and awareness campaigns.
“access to therapy for everyone should be within reach, and this means that for those who need it, our health-care system should be able to provide it.”