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Daughter's epilepsy sparks new triathlon
By JOHN BALZ, Times Staff Writer TAMPA PALMS -- When 14-year-old Cori Sokolik was in third grade she suffered a seizure that nearly erased her memory. She forgot how to hold a fork, how to eat, how to get dressed. She posted a note in the bathroom to remind her to put her shirt and underwear on in the morning. She learned she had epilepsy, the neurological condition that disrupts the electrical functions in the brain. Its causes remain unknown. But on Nov. 2, the Tampa Palms teen and her mother, Vicki Sokolik, will take a crack at changing that. They have organized an event that they are hoping will become a tradition; the first ever triathlon at the New Tampa YMCA. Sokolik, a triathlete, is the founder of the Tampa-based Epilepsy Research Foundation, an 18-month-old group that seeks to raise money for epilepsy research and remove the stigma associated with the disease. According to Johns Hopkins University's Epilepsy Center, roughly 1 percent of all Americans have a form of uncontrolled epilepsy. Cori now attends Blake High School, where she is doing well in the magnet television program. "She's seen things other teenagers haven't seen," Sokolik said. "She laughs at the typical things, a boyfriend dumped you and you cry. She laughs. If you're going to cry over something, cry over something big, she thinks. She's taught our family about living." After a pair of brain surgeries and numerous medications, doctors were unable to locate the exact place in Cori's frontal lobe where the seizures originate. Disappointed in the results but relieved that she had tried everything, Sokolik went to work starting her organization. Using her background in fundraising, she raised $250,000 from a variety of foundations and corporate sponsors. Her plans are bold. She hopes for $1-million by 2003 and to double her amount of donations every year. She'll award research grants to investigate treatments and possible cures. The New Tampa event will begin with a quarter-mile swim in the YMCA's pool, followed by a 10-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run. Awards will be given to the top three finishers, but everyone will be eligible for a random drawing of airplane tickets and gift certificates. If her blueprint succeeds in Tampa, Sokolik she wants to take it to other cities, much the way the Race for the Cure raises funds for breast cancer research. With Vicki's Texas roots, Dallas is the next city on the list. "I live and breathe this stuff now," she said. -- John Balz can be reached at (813) 269-5313 or at balz@sptimes.com
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From the Times Marlene Sokol |
