For the Media:

First 'National Walk for Epilepsy' A Big Success

Landover, MD, March 31, 2007 – The first-ever National Walk for Epilepsy brought more than 5,000 people to the National Mall and raised one million dollars to help build awareness of epilepsy, eliminate stigma attached to this condition, and raise much needed funds for research toward finding a cure. The event was sponsored by the Epilepsy Foundation and Ortho-McNeil Neurologics.

Epilepsy, a common neurological condition that makes people susceptible to seizures, affects more than 3 million children and adults in the United States.

“To see so many people united for the cause of epilepsy, and standing between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument was like a dream come true,” said Tony Coelho, chair of the Epilepsy Foundation Board of Directors and key author of the Americans with Disabilities Act. “Those of us with epilepsy have got to speak up and speak out more to end the stigma and fear surrounding the condition.”

Wesley Autrey, who jumped to the tracks of the New York Subway and saved a man who had fallen onto the tracks during a seizure, took part in the Walk to inspire more people to learn more about epilepsy, and to know how to respond if they witness someone having a seizure.

"I'm glad to take part in the walk,” said Wesley Autrey. “I’ll share this message wherever I go because this is an important cause."

For more information about the Walk and to find out more about epilepsy, visit www.epilepsyfoundation.org.

About the Epilepsy Foundation

The Epilepsy Foundation (www.epilepsyfoundation.org), a national voluntary health organization established in 1967, works to ensure that people with seizures are able to participate in all life experiences; to improve how people with epilepsy are perceived, accepted and valued in society; and to promote research for a cure.