Fourteen people representing Epilepsy Durham Region recently scaled a side of the Grand Canyon, raising more than $50,000 to support the agency’s pediatric management program. However, the greatest success was the epilepsy awareness created at an international level, say those involved with Epic Climb.
“The awareness we were able to build is priceless — (the climb) built such a unity in our community,” says Epilepsy Durham Region executive director Dianne McKenzie.
“The community rallied with us. We raised a significant amount of money but for me it was never about the money; it was the opportunity to rally the community, to step forward and support people with epilepsy and learn about epilepsy.”
Epilepsy Durham Region launched a social media campaign, utilizing Facebook and Twitter to raise awareness of Epic Climb and to help people learn about epilepsy and seizure disorders. McKenzie says the effort paid off. The Epic Climb Twitter account has received more than 600 followers; the Facebook page has close to 350 likes.
The team aimed to raise $45,000 Epilepsy Durham Region’s pediatric management program. To date, $51,267 has been raised, with funds still coming.
“The (success) is how we engaged people — even internationally — to learn about epilepsy, and have them say ‘Now I know more about epilepsy than I did before’,” McKenzie says.
While in the U.S., the Epic Climb team met with people from the Epilepsy Foundation of Arizona to share perspectives and ideas about programming which brought an international flavour to the event, McKenzie says.
Chelsea Kerstens was another climber. Kerstens, who is living with epilepsy, says at a personal level, the climb accomplished “a great feat” for her.
“It’s not just what we did in the canyon, it was also watching how the community rallied around (people with epilepsy) leading up to and after the climb — that’s been really, really special.”
Epic Climb saw participants scale a 4,500-foot side of the Grand Canyon on Oct. 7, equivalent to climbing the CN Tower 2 ½ times. The climb took 11 ½ hours
What inspired participants throughout the gruelling climb was thinking about the challenges those living with epilepsy face, McKenzie says. Before the climb, participants posed with photos of people who were inspiring them.
While physically exhausting, the event is something McKenzie and Kerstens say they’ll never forget.
“It was a moment to be captured in one’s lifetime,” McKenzie says.
Writer: Deron Hamel
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