Meet Epilepsy Canada Champion:
Eliminating Epilepsy Golf Tournament Organizer, Chelsea Kern
I was introduced to epilepsy more formally back in 2016 when my partner, Alex and I started dating. Alex lives with epilepsy, so I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could to have a better understanding of what I was facing and how I could possibly help make a difference in his life.
I decided I wanted to try to make an impact myself. A lot of you may know already but I have been very passionate about raising awareness for the research and development of Epilepsy for the past 7 years. As someone who lives with someone who has epilepsy doesn’t come without its challenges, fears and struggles.
Witnessing your loved one go through the episodes and the medication side effects can be extremely difficult at times. However you take the good with the bad and learn to adapt and pivot where you can.
For me the biggest thing was educating myself on what to do in these situations and moments and becoming less nervous and more confident.
There are many different types of epilepsy some have apparent causes and some have no idea as to why they have it. We are fortunate that Alex is one of the ones who can be controlled by medication, but that doesn’t always work.
Alex’s journey with epilepsy got worse when we moved to Edmonton. Alex was on his way to school at NAIT when I received a phone call from him just 10 minutes after he left our house. In full panic mode I through on whatever I could find, hopped in my car and went to find him. I found him on the other side of the highway with the center guard wire still attached to his truck. It’s was an extremely emotional day. I was just so grateful he was ok. I had just started a new job, he had just started school and now I needed to be the sole driver until he was cleared to drive again.
For me it was a no brainer to start fundraising. After we were all settled in and everything was under control. I reached out to Gary at Epilepsy Canada who supported me on my first ever Charity Golf Tournament in Edmonton.
It was a bit of a task as I didn’t know many people. Our efforts raised just over $5000 that year.
Now that I’m back in my hometown with all my connections and support, I am extremely excited to partner with Gary again this year for round 2!
To learn more about Chelsea’s Golf Tournament visit our event page
2nd Annual Eliminating Epilepsy Golf Tournament is set for Thursday, July. 20, 2023, at Fort Langley Golf Club.