An Oxford Mills father is spearheading an epilepsy fundraiser in support of his daughter, and he’s putting his bicycle where his mouth is to raise as much money as possible.
Brian Lafleur’s daughter Raina started having seizures when she was just four months old. “As first-time parents, we didn’t know that they were seizures at the time,” Brian told the Times. “After sharing some video with a pediatrician via online video conference, it was suggested that we go to CHEO to figure it out.”
An EEG scan in May of 2022 confirmed that Raina has migrating multifocal seizures, which Brian described as “the most devastating diagnosis we could have imagined.” Over the next few weeks, the family was in and out of the hospital repeatedly, trying different medications and ultimately starting a ketogenic diet for Raina. Raina is currently on four anti-seizure medications, CBD oil and the keto diet and she still has 6 to 8 seizures on average per day. Raina has low muscle tone (hypotonia) and has no head control at 17 months. She doesn’t feed orally and gets her nutrition through a G-Tube.
Now, the family is raising money for CURE Epilepsy and CHEO to support their daughter and others afflicted with epilepsy. Fundraising has begun and will run until July 16.
Brian is using his experience as an avid cyclist to support the fundraising effort. In 2021, he rode 357 km in 1,000 minutes as a charity fundraiser. On July 15, beginning at 5am, Brian is going to attempt to ride as far as possible in 17 hours, traveling some of his favourite loops through communities such as Oxford Mills, Merrickville, Kemptville, Oxford Station, and Burritts Rapids. He is aiming to cycle at least 400 km, with sponsors donating a desired amount per kilometre.
Brian is counting on the support of the community with his latest fundraising effort. “North Grenville is where we live, work and play,” he said. “We’ve been a part of this wonderful community since 2018, and have witnessed and participated in some wonderful fundraising initiatives, including a charity spin class at Get Kronk’d for Parkinson Canada. We hope the NG community will get behind our cause as well.”
Want to help show your support? Those interested can purchase raffle tickets at a Popeyes Supplements location, and can also make a direct donation to the campaign by visiting this link: https://shorturl.at/rvEHI. To support Raina’s parents with their out of pocket medical expenses, a separate GoFundMe campaign is underway and can be found at https://gofund.me/26f7da4e.