SUDEP Action holds Purple Day Awareness Stall in Wantage, Oxfordshire

SUDEP Action marked the Purple Day celebrations on 26 March, 2015 by holding an awareness and fundraising stall in Wantage, Oxfordshire. Purple Day is an international effort to promote epilepsy awareness and research. 

This year, the SUDEP Action team gave out awareness leaflets and sold purple cakes at a stall in front of Sainsbury’s in Wantage, to raise funds for research. The charity also ran an online campaign sharing tips on ways in which people with epilepsy can look after themselves better to reduce their risk. 

The charity encouraged people to join in and help raise awareness and funds on Purple Day by swapping their ordinary suits and ties, work wear or school uniforms for something purple in return for a donation to the charity. People were also invited to help raise awareness by dyeing their hair or beards purple, selling purple cakes and hosting purple tea parties. All funds raised from the charity Purple Day activities and events went towards the WADD project. 

The Wearable Apnoea Detection Device (WADD) is a device that could help prevent Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). The monitoring device has been proved to detect seizures. It needs testing on 50 people with epilepsy to see how accurate and reliable it is on people having seizures.  The ultimate aim is produce a minute device which could be worn at all times by people at high risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) to help reduce their risk.

There are about 600, 000 people with epilepsy in the UK. In Oxfordshire, there are at least 3742 adults with epilepsy. Epilepsy claims at least 1200 lives each year, 600 of these deaths are due to SUDEP.