For her 75th birthday, CURE Champion Mary Fox and her friends and family walked, skipped, and swam to support epilepsy research during Move for Yasya! More than just an impressive milestone, this virtual marathon was a special fundraiser honoring Mary’s granddaughter, Yasya.
Yasya, who this fantastic event honored.
Yasya has battled epilepsy for two years now. At only 12 years old, she has had multiple emergency room visits, has undergone innumerable diagnostic tests, and has tried countless antiseizure drugs. Yasya has always referred to herself as “rare” and unfortunately, her neurologist agrees; her epilepsy is rare and complicated with multiple seizure types over her entire brain. Despite these seizures, Yasya wakes up every day with a cheerful, outgoing attitude. She doesn’t let her epilepsy stop her – she uses it to motivate and empower her to live her life to the fullest.
Yasya’s spirit of positivity and can-do attitude inspired Mary and her husband Jay – they decided to host their own virtual marathon for Mary’s birthday! They committed to walking 26.2 miles over 26.2 days and encouraged friends and family to join them using the power of the internet. Using CURE’s online fundraising platform, each participant donated to CURE, committed their own distance and time goals, and decided how they’d get up and move (walk to the park once a week, do 20 laps around the kitchen table every night, etc.). Participants then honored their marathon commitments and remained engaged by providing updates and encouragement through Mary’s interactive fundraising page. Mary’s interactive fundraising page.
Mary had an ambitious fundraising goal – $1,945 in honor of her birth year. In just one month, Move for Yasya raised 120% of Mary’s goal, all in support of CURE’s mission to fund ground-breaking epilepsy research.
Mary hopes to create a world without epilepsy for Yasya and the 470,000 other children in the US impacted by this devastating condition by raising funds and awareness in support of epilepsy research. If you’re interested in setting up your own virtual fundraiser, please reach out to our Outreach Team at events@www.cureepilepsy.org.