For nearly 30 years, Lisa and Randy Siegel have built a beautiful life for their children filled with love, success, and connection. Their daughter, Becca, is a remarkable woman who delights in writing letters to pen pals, enthusiastically enjoys musical theater, and befriends every dog in her neighborhood.
Becca also has epilepsy and suffers daily seizures that have delayed her development and prevented her from living independently. With the threat of a drop seizure striking without warning, Lisa or Randy need to always walk arm-in-arm with Becca. Like so many families affected by epilepsy, the Siegels have spent decades looking for relief for their daughter. They’ve tried over 30 medications, participated in clinical trials, and traveled to epilepsy centers across the nation.
“Epilepsy is the defining challenge of our lives,” Randy shares. “In every other way, our family is incredibly fortunate. But when it comes to Becca’s seizures, we’ve failed to find answers — and that’s devastating.”
The Siegels have been champions of CURE Epilepsy since the early days, when we were a small network of parents determined to find answers for their children. They have supported the organization and epilepsy community not just financially, but with time and community building. Randy served as a CURE Epilepsy board member from 2007-2013 and helped the organization get key national exposure in Parade Magazine in 2009. Still today, at the end of business meetings that are unrelated to epilepsy, someone will ask, “Hey, Randy, do you have a second?” Invariably, it will be someone new to the world of epilepsy looking for guidance and reassurance. Randy says that he always sends them to CURE Epilepsy’s website, so that they can find out more about epilepsy, research treatment options, find helpful resources, and most importantly, learn that they are not alone in this fight.
Lisa and Randy are inspired by the progress CURE Epilepsy has driven in understanding and treating epilepsy – but they know there is still much more work to be done to get seizure relief for everyone. “As much as we’ve accomplished at CURE Epilepsy,” Lisa says, “there are still millions of people like Becca who are suffering every day. Now more than ever, we have to double down.”
And doubling down is exactly what they are doing. To accelerate progress and support the millions of people worldwide struggling to find seizure control, like Becca, the Siegels are committing a major gift to CURE Epilepsy that will help fund the next wave of promising science.
“There is real momentum in science right now,” Randy says. “Our understanding of the brain is growing. Our tools are better. We’re closer to better treatments and, someday, a cure. But we have to keep going.”
Hope and fear walk hand in hand for families like the Siegels. The happiness of another birthday highlights developmental milestones missed. The joy Becca gets from her service dog, Camden, exists alongside the anxiety that he’ll signal a seizure is happening. The hope of a new treatment tempered by the fear of new side effects. Every day brings risk and uncertainty. But in research, in community, and in CURE Epilepsy, the Siegels have found reasons to believe in a better tomorrow.
When we give, it’s because we believe in CURE Epilepsy’s mission to drive science toward a cure. It’s personal. It’s urgent. And it gives us hope.
Becca's Mom
Explore the 2024 CURE Epilepsy Report
