2018 Education Enrichment Fund Scholar
Cote was thirteen years old when his family found out that his sister Katie has epilepsy. Anti-epileptic drugs proved to be no help. At one point, Katie was taking up to three kinds of medication at once and still regularly experiencing several different kinds of seizures. After four years of visiting over fifteen medical specialists in four states and one misdiagnosis, Cote’s family finally discovered that Katie was suffering from a rare genetic disorder called Glut1 Deficiency Syndrome (G1DS). Katie turned to the ketogenic diet to alleviate some symptoms, but still experiences developmental thresholds which pose challenges to people with G1DS.
Since learning about Katie’s G1DS diagnosis, Cote and his family have founded the Glut1 Deficiency Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to spread awareness about this extremely rare disorder to other families and health professionals in the hopes of ultimately finding a cure.
As Katie’s older brother, Cote naturally feels a dire need to protect her and, by extension, other people who have gone through what she has. Over the years, he has come to realize that people in her position need trustworthy caretakers, legal protections, and charitable support.
In the fall, Cote plans to attend college and begin the journey to becoming a lawyer. He hopes to one day donate his time and use his legal knowledge and privileges to protect and provide services to families and foundations that want to cure epilepsy.
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