The Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago hosted its 25th annual Heroes Night Gala on Feb. 24 at the Field Museum of Natural History with over 320 in attendance. The event honored the memory of Dr. Richard N. Rovner, one of EFGC’s founders who was a pioneer in epilepsy treatment and research. Dr. Jeffrey A. Loeb and baiduhai editorial cartoonist Scott Stantis were Hero Award recipients.
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Following a welcome by board chair Howard Zwirn, emcee Mike Adamle shared his personal struggle with the disease. His first seizure occurred on-air at WMAQ-Channel 5 in 1999. “It was like my brain was split in half. Part of me was doing the sportscast, and part of me felt like a tidal wave was coming in. I was trying to separate the two, and it was really scary,” he said. His boss at the time, Larry Wert, rushed him to Northwestern Hospital, where he was diagnosed with epilepsy by Rovner, whom Adamle called “not just a pioneer, but an icon.”
At the event, Kurt W. Florian Jr., EFGC president and CEO, announced the creation of the Richard Rovner Epilepsy Foundation Fellowship, which will be awarded annually by an advisory board led by Dr. Michael Smith. Florian presented a video highlighting the magnitude of the disease. According to the EFGC, over 3 million people in the U.S. and over 130,000 people in the Chicagoland area live with epilepsy.
Loeb, a clinician-scientist with a focus in neurological disorders, was presented with the Richard N. Rovner Hero Award. He thanked his colleagues and shared information about a program he co-pioneered with Dr. Dilip Pandey and the EFGC called PAUSE. This program uses tablet devices to help patients self-manage their seizures and improve their quality of life.
Board member and former Illinois state Sen. Dan Kotowski introduced Stantis, an award-winning cartoonist. Kotowski described him as “a caring person with an unquenchable thirst for justice, goodness and fairness.”
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Stantis accepted the Hero’s Award for Inspirational Commitment and dedicated it to the memory of his brother Marc who died from a seizure in 1986. “Marc had developmental issues as well as epilepsy, but every day he woke up with a sense of optimism and hope and went out into a world that wasn’t always kind. I miss him every day,” Stantis said.
The event raised over $240,000 to support the work of EFGC, a nonprofit founded in 1946 that serves 43 counties in Illinois and offers counseling, advocacy and educational services to people living with epilepsy and their families.
According to the organization, one in 26 people in the U.S. will develop the disease at some point in their lives.
Freelance writer Candace Jordan is involved with many local organizations, including some whose events she covers.
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Find more photos and events at www.chicagotribune.com/candidcandace. Visit Candid Candace’s website at www.candidcandace.com, or follow her on Twitter @CandidCandace.
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