The Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego County is honored to present 7-year-old Ethan Gudgel as our 2007-2009 Winning Kid!

You may recognize Ethan from his involvement in Sharon’s Ride.Run.Walk for Epilepsy or his smiling face at Gingerbread Kids this past December, but it wasn’t always a guarantee that Ethan would be such a sport at EFSDC events. When Ethan was three he had his first seizure. Ethan’s family was stationed in Japan at the time but had very little connection with the local military medical staff. He and his mother, Tina, were flown to the Army Tripler Base in Hawaii where Ethan -- then experiencing up to 40 seizures a day -- was told he had epilepsy. By the time he was four, Ethan had lost many of the basic skills he had previously developed: he was unable to count, recite his ABCs, sing, or tie his shoes.

Tina Gudgel: “Ethan is my inspiration in life”

After posts around the U.S., the Gudgel family was finally stationed here in San Diego. At one point Ethan had tried over 10 seizure medications, but with the help of EFSDC’s Professional Advisory Board Member Dr. Jacqueline Serena, he has been seizure free for over two years, has regained all of his childhood abilities and is only on 2 medications!

Tina, speaking to other parents at the first Central San Diego Parent Support Group, May 21, 2008: “Ethan’s self esteem has skyrocketed from the requests he has had to participate in the Epilepsy Foundation events.”

Despite all of the hardships, Ethan is amazingly ambitious; he wants to be a special needs teacher, an astronaut and a doctor! He now participates on a basketball team at the military base where his father, Michael, is stationed. Ethan believes representing the 30,000 people with epilepsy in San Diego as the EFSDC’s Winning Kid is “his job,” and that makes him feel very special and proud.

Mollie Winninger, age 13, is the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego County's "Winning Kid".

The 2004-2005 “Winning Kid” is Mollie Winninger. Mollie is excited to represent the 30,000 people with epilepsy in San Diego County. She believes that additional funding and research are necessary for those with intractable seizures.

Mollie was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 9. She has complex partial seizures and Todd’s paralysis. Mollie’s seizures were caused by a cyst in her brain. She has been challenged with memory loss, learning difficulties and excessive fatigue. She has endured five different trials of medications, many MRIs, sleep-deprived EEGs, long-term EEG testing and more. She was able to continue public schooling for the fourth grade thanks to an awesome teacher and a 504 plan.

In December of 2003, Mollie had brain surgery to remove the cyst. She was willing to accept all complications in hopes that the surgery might give her relief from the 8-12 seizures she endured daily. The surgery was successful and her seizures are now controlled with medication!

Mollie loves to swim, play with her friends, talk on the phone, boogie board, sing, dance and act. She is energetic and has an incredible spirit. She has an inner beauty that radiates the first time you meet her. She is creative and funny and articulate and compassionate and faithful. She has endured a very challenging time in her life and wishes to help others with the knowledge she has gained. She is delighted to help the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego County in any way that she can.

The 2002-2004 "Winning Kid", who will represent the children of San Diego who have epilepsy, is 9 year old Kevin Bath. Kevin is an active, outgoing and energetic lad who has had complex partial seizures since the age of 15 months. His teacher, Marnie Segedy, at Solana Highlands Elementary School writes "As a teacher your greatest joy is to have a student that loves to come to school, radiates kindness to those around him, gives 100% to every task and only wishes to please everyone he meets……Kevin is an inspiration to us all because he does all of this while overcoming his own special challenge. Even with the added burden of struggling to learn and do his best he never complains about how hard a task may be for him. …….Kevin just moves ahead with a determination and will that speaks volumes about his personality and spirit." His mom & dad, Mark & Lynne Bath, are very positive and supportive. Brother Ryan and sister Mackenzie are delighted that their brother has received this recognition.

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