The Southend West MP met with the Leader of the House of Commons on Thursday in the lead up to ‘Purple Day’ on Sunday 26th March, an annual event dedicated to increasing awareness about epilepsy worldwide.
SUDEP Action, a charity promoting the understanding of ‘Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy’ which kills 21 people in the UK every week, has been working alongside Anna and the Maisie Tothill Foundation to raise the campaign in the House of Commons.
The Maisie Tothill Foundation was set in tribute to Maisie Tothill, who died from SUDEP at the age of 22 and is the granddaughter of Margaret Tothill, a local Southend resident.
Hosting them in Parliament last year at a drop-in session for MPs, Anna carried on her support in the Houses of Parliament this week as she sponsored a purple kitted heart as a tribute to those that have sadly passed from epilepsy.
The Leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mourdant MP, also joined Anna in supporting these organisations to raise awareness of epilepsy and held up one of the purple hearts which were knitted by a group of elderly women for all 650 MPs.
Anna said,
“This is such an important campaign, raising awareness of epilepsy which takes around 21 lives every week, half of which could be preventable and also normally impacting the young generation.”
“Margaret Tothill is an amazing campaigner, and I am proud to be her MP. She visited my constituency surgery last year to bravely talk about the passing of her granddaughter, and ever since I have been inspired to help make a difference.”
Penny Mordaunt MP said,
“I join [Anna] in paying tribute to all those organisations that are raising awareness and ensuring that people suffering from the condition get the best care and support.”
