Ochre Health has supported a young girl in the Noosa community to fundraise for Go Purple Day, an initiative of Epilepsy Queensland as part of Epilepsy Awareness Month.
Noosa local Tayla Stinton, 12, climbed Brisbane’s Story Bridge on 26 March to raise funds and awareness for the charity closest to her heart.
As an epileptic, Tayla suffered seizures in the utero, including a massive stroke and multiple seizures at birth. While the prognosis the doctors gave Tayla’s family after her birth was devastating, Tayla would prove them wrong. She grew to walk and talk ‘normally’, overcoming every important developmental milestone without a problem.
However, in November 2012, Tayla had her first seizure since the ones she suffered at birth. As she began enduring seizures more frequently, Tayla underwent life-changing brain surgery in 2016. The surgery removed a small section of Tayla’s brain that had suffered considerable damage before and after her birth – the region that was discovered to be the cause of Tayla’s epileptic fits. She has not had a seizure since.
Since then, Tayla and her mother, Joanne, have remained committed to raising awareness of epilepsy and the surgery options available.
“I hope Tayla’s story will encourage other families with children suffering from epilepsy to trust the surgical outcomes,” Joanne says. “My message to other families is to have the courage to take the leap, because epileptic seizures are not only frightening to live through, they require lots of management, particularly when your child is out and about. Ensuring normalcy for my daughter, so that she could keep going to dance classes and attending school, was my priority.”
The bridge climb, which encourages people to ‘Go Purple’ as they take on the challenge of climbing Brisbane’s Story Bridge, is aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of epilepsy.
“Tayla’s wellbeing following her surgery has enabled her to take on this exciting challenge. There isn’t a better day for Tayla to be a Purple Day Hero for Epilepsy than on Purple Day,” Joanne says. “For many epileptics, I hope that Tayla’s experience will inspire other people living with epilepsy to believe that they, too, can achieve almost anything.”
Ochre Health sponsored Tayla’s Purple Day Climb by donating $1,000.00. Along with Joanne, a Practice Manager at Ochre Medical Centre Noosa.
According to Joanne, the biggest problem for people suffering from epilepsy is dealing with the attitude of others. “Epilepsy is a common brain disorder, and yet, the major obstacles for people living with epilepsy are ignorance, stigma, discrimination and fear.”
“With Ochre Health’s help, Tayla and I are hoping we can raise as much as we can to increase epilepsy awareness across Australia.”
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