With the 2012 Summer Olympics only a few days away, I wanted to see how
many athletes that have been in the Olympics have epilepsy.
Of course you start online and Google gives you names starting back to
ancient Greece. I finally see people who
play in the NFL or the Major League.
Then the gold, silver, and bronze medalist. Think of how many minutes, hours, days, etc.
it took for them to get where they are.
Walking around the track opening night waving their flag full of pride
representing their country. All the work
they did isn't going through their mind right now.
The names you read in the next few paragraphs will help you walk proud with
them now that you know that they were able to overcome all of the pitfalls that
epilepsy brings. There are some great
stories with happy endings and one that will break your heart. One you will read and cannot believe that
this happened here in the USA, if you think like me.
The first I have to mention is Florence Griffith-Joyner, or "Flo
Jo" if you were around then to remember her nickname. You might also remember her long
fingernails. She ran the 100m and the
200m dash. Holds the record for both and
won the gold medal. She had seizures due
to a Cavernous Hemangioma, which is a congenital brain abnormality. She had a history of Tonic-Clonic Seizures
and died by suffocation in her sleep due to a seizure. Al Joyner was her husband, who was also in
the Olympics, and her daughter Mary Ruth was on America's Got Talent this year
and made it to Las Vegas.
Chandra Gunn had her first seizure when she nine years old. She would see her mother cry about her
epilepsy then she would tell her mother that she would be good. After a while she began to see that it was
not her fault but an important part of her life. After high school she went to the University
of Wisconsin. There her seizures started
to get uncontrollable. They decided the
problem was where they had not changed the dosage of her medication anytime
that she had been taking it. During her sophomore
year, Chandra knew she was ready for hockey but her coach didn't think she
was. She hadn't told anyone about her
epilepsy previously. This taught her to
be more open and upfront so that people can become more aware of epilepsy. The USA hockey team won the bronze medal in
the 2006 Olympic Games. Chandra played
goalie position. She has won multiple
awards and is the spokesperson for the Epilepsy Therapy Project saying that she
wants people to live their lives to the fullest.
Dai Greene played football (soccer for us since he's British) when he was a
teenager. He had to quit playing soccer
in his late teens due to a growing spurt that causes knee pain. It is called Osgood Schlatter Disease. He now runs the 400m hurdler for Welsh and
Great Britain. Dai had his first seizure
at seventeen. He doesn't take any medication;
instead he doesn't drink any alcohol and makes sure he gets the right amount of
sleep needed. Several medals have been
won and he will be Captain for the Great British Athletics Team.
Marion Clignet was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was twenty-two years
old. She enjoys riding her bike. After
getting her license taken away riding a bike was her way of
transportation. Now competing as a
track cyclist. She was born in the US,
but her parents are French. When the US
Olympic team felt that she was a risk due to her epilepsy, she joined the
French National Cyclist Team. With them
she has two silver medals. Her epilepsy
did not get the best of her. Every year
she has a bike ride to raise awareness for epilepsy.
Maggie McEleny is also known as "Mad Maggie". She is paraplegic and also has epilepsy due
to a head injury when she was eleven years old.
Maggie has competed in four Paralympics.
Throughout those four she has won three gold medals, 5 silver medals,
and seven bronze medals.
Paul Wade played football (soccer) for Australia in the 1988 summer
Olympics. He received player of the year
in 1988 from Australia. A supporter of
disabled sports. Due to his epilepsy, he
helps by attending functions to support epilepsy awareness.
After reading about the athletes that have overcome their epilepsy to
compete in games with other athletes from around the world, let's stop and say
what WILL I overcome today.
My name is Roxanne Davenport and I have epilepsy. I'm not an Olympic athlete. I am an advocate for Epilepsy
Awareness.