Every week at my job I get to meet some pretty incredible kids. Meet Chase Johnson. This guy and his positive attitude stood out from the first day of camp last Spring Break. Chase is the founder of ChasefortheCure.net (http://www NULL.Chaseforthecure NULL.net) – a hoopathon designed to raise awareness of epilepsy and to raise funds to find a cure. I strongly urge you to support this fun event. Some of you may know that I personally have suffered several seizures thru the years and I can attest that awareness is an important issue for the friends and families of epileptics as well as the potential witnesses to epileptic seizures.
I also wanted to share some insight into the mind of this incredible young man. Here is an interview Chase was kind enough to do with me.
Chase- you and I have known each other thru our Austin Basketball Camps. Tell our readers a little about what epilepsy is and how many young people it affects across the country and the world.
Epilepsy means the same thing as “seizure disorders” and is characterized by unpredictable seizures and can cause other health problems. The symptoms of a seizure may affect any part of the body, the electrical events that produce the symptoms occur in the brain. The location of that event, how it spreads and how much of the brain is affected, and how long it lasts all have profound effects
Epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder and affects people of all ages. It is estimated that nearly 3 million Americans are currently diagnosed with epilepsy; 300,000 of which are children and youth 14 and younger. Of the 200,000 new cases of epilepsy diagnosed each year, it is estimated that approximately 50,000 of these will be diagnosed in children and adolescents under the age of 18.
I need to ask you Chase… you are ten… tell me about the day you came up with this idea and how your mind moved this from an idea to an actual event. Tell me who has been helpful to you in making this happen.
My friend and I came up with the idea when we realized that people were only recognizing Diabetes and other diseases but not Epilepsy, Asthma and others. So we sent a note to our Principal with an idea and he said he would love for us to do something but that we would have to run the whole thing. From there I met with the Epilepsy Foundation of Central and South Texas, Dripping Springs High School Basketball Coaches, and Dripping Springs Youth Sports Association. And of course my parents. Everything else just evolved from there.
What exactly is this event and why are people so excited about it?
We are having our first annual Hoop*a*Thon and skills challenge to raise awareness for people with epilepsy and to help raise money to help get kids into Camp Brainstorm. Camp Brainstorm is a camp for kids with epilepsy that cannot go to regular camps. It should be a very exciting fun day that everybody will enjoy.
So many people are great at spotting problems in this world. Yet so many of us stop after the spotting stage. How did you move from spotting to solving mode?
After I came up with the idea I met with my principal and my dad to help me set up a foundation and from then we just started to evolve more and more till we finally came up with the idea to start the process for a hoop*a*thon.
This is a pretty cool mission. It is an honor to call you a friend Chase. How can people interested in helping give a hand to make a difference?
People can help make a difference by just signing up to participate, or donating money or prizes for our silent auction. We have created a website where people can get more information or reach out to us to help (www.chaseforthecure.net (http://www NULL.chaseforthecure NULL.net/)) or follow me on twitter (#chaseforthecure).
(http://www NULL.chaseforthecure NULL.net/)
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