If you’re deciding what to wear today , why not a purple shirt or dress or hat?
Today is Purple Day for Epilepsy Awareness.
It was started in 2008 by Cassidy Megan, a young girl in Nova Scotia who approached her principal about getting everybody to wear purple to promote epilepsy awareness.
Since then, it’s spread around the world.
Locally, Andrea Longstaff says it’s starting to catch on.
Longstaff is the Executive Director for the Huron Perth Bruce chapter of Epilepsy Ontario, and she says they’re starting to receive more support.
She says young people have really caught onto the idea of Purple Day, and organizations like the Rotary and Optimist Clubs have been asking more questions.
Longstaff says there’s a stigma attached to epilepsy but it’s important everybody know about the disorder and not just those affected by it.
She says if someone in the community suffers from epilepsy, they could one day have a seizure while walking down the street, and the more people know what to do in that type of situation, the better.
Longstaff adds that people need to get checked for epilepsy if they have two more more unprovoked seizures.
Longstaff says anybody can contact their organization at anytime for more information, and she says they’d be happy to put on workshops for companies that want to train their staff.
Purple Day happens every year on March 26th.
