A Prince George man is taking strides to help children suffering from epilepsy.
Trevor Patenuade is taking on the Northern Sport Centre’s 600 lap challenge, running more than 150 kilometres – all while raising money and awareness around the condition.
Collecting pledges for each lap from local residents and businesses, Patenaude plans on donating every dollar to BC Children’s Hospital.
“I was born with severe epilepsy and spent about the first ten years of my life basically in and out of children’s hospital” said Patenaude. “The team there took care of me for that span, until eventually they found the right harmony of medication”
Five days and 122 laps into the challenge, Patenaude is on track to raise more than one-thousand dollars. His ultimate goal is to collect five dollars per lap which would amount to three-thousand dollars.
On top of the donations he’s collected, Patenaude is raising awareness about epilepsy.
“I lead a normal lifestyle today but I can tell you than I have over 300 micro seizures a day that my body has to recover from. It’s taxing.” said Patenaude. “I’ve had more conversations in the last week about epilepsy than I’ve probably had in the last four-five years of my life.”
Between micro-seizures and the effects of previous knee surgeries, the run can be challenging. Even so, Patenaude’s determination is strong.
Anyone interested in donating to the run can contact Trevor directly at [email protected]