Epilepsy Foundation seeks help forming a Thomasville Chapter
{Contributed Photos}
Thomasville’s Toney Kincaid is asking for an early Christmas Gift from friends in Davidson County. “I would love for you guys to give me a(n) early Christmas Gift. I have worked very hard this year for you. I would like to get two people in Thomasville NC to help me start a support group in our largest city in my area,” Kincaid wrote to the group. “I also want to be a bit greedy and ask for more. Would you ask two of your friends to join this group. Now don’t you feel better. Merry Christmas to you!”
Kincaid is the founder of The Epilepsy Association of North Carolina.
Home - Epilepsy Association of NC (epilepsyassociationnc.com)
According to the National Institutes of Health, epilepsy is a neurological disorder that causes seizures or unusual sensations and behaviors. It can last several years or be lifelong. NIH calls it “very common (more than three million cases per year in US).” There are no known cures, but treatments are available. Up to 1970 it was legal to deny people with seizures access to restaurants, movies and public buildings.
The group has 17 chapters across the state, but that does not currently include the Chair City. Advocates say the disease can be lonely, as most with epilepsy cannot drive due to seizures and strokes. As such, according to the foundation, students with seizures and strokes have a 20 percent higher suicide rate.
A round of epilepsy-related seizures and surgeries almost caused Kincaid to lose everything - his job, health insurance, driver’s license, self-esteem, even his will to live. By 1988, his epilepsy was causing upwards of 3000 seizures a month and doctors feared he didn’t have much time left. No matter the challenges, Kincaid never lost his family or his faith. Now, that faith inspires others and motivates his partnership with Pastor Long and Paul’s Chapel Church to host fundraisers for Epilepsy of Davidson County.
Life got better for Kincaid after he underwent an experimental procedure that involved implanting a cookie-sized device below his left collarbone. Kincaid describes it as “a pacemaker for the brain.” Over a nine-month period, this miraculous treatment worked its wonder of wonders, and by January 1990, Toney and his seizures stopped.
Advocates say the disease can be lonely, as most with epilepsy cannot drive due to seizures and strokes. As such, according to the foundation, students with seizures and strokes have a 20 percent higher suicide rate.
Each year Toney and the local group provides Christmas projects around the state. The Purple Christmas Box supports the NC Social Services Juvenile Department. This year the group raised $500 plus 15 stuffed animals from the Happy Hookers.
