The hardest thing about living with epilepsy for Gerard Rush is never knowing when something “could happen”.
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While he lives a happy and normal life, it is this lingering knowledge that makes his experience at work a little different than for others.
However, the Flick the Bean employee does not shy away from sharing his experiences of living with epilepsy.
“My epilepsy might be very different to the next guy and for that reason you might find a lot of people don’t know too much about it,” he said.
“I am very open to talking about mine, because if one person could learn something from that then I’ve done my job.”
Flick the Bean co-owner Edward Crick and Mr Rush spearheaded a fundraising effort in March to extend this knowledge to a wider audience.
Flick the Bean raised $4000 for Epilepsy Tasmania during Purple Month in March.
Epilepsy Tasmania organised activities throughout the month to raise awareness about the condition and to raise funds for its operations.
On March 24, Flick the Bean donated all of its takings to Epilepsy Tasmania.
Members of staff also donated their pay checks to the cause.
Epilepsy Tasmania chief executive Wendy Groot said the $4000 would go toward its support services.
“Epilepsy Tasmania works with individuals and families to help them develop their epilepsy plan and to help them resource their homes,” she said.
“We want every school in Tasmania to become an epilepsy smart school and we also want every aged-care and every workplace to be epilepsy aware.”
Mr Crick said the month was not just about raising money.
It also encouraged people to start conversations about epilepsy when ordering their morning coffee.
“Before [Mr Rush] started with us I didn’t have any awareness about epilepsy,” he said.
“It’s opened my eyes and everybody else’s who works here.”
Harcourts Tasmania donated an additional $4000 to Epilepsy Tasmania through the company’s Harcourts Foundation.
Chief executive Tony Morrison said there was a growing sense of social conscience in the industry.
“These days the social conscience of business is important and you need to contribute,” he said.
“I think more and more businesses are incorporating into their whole strategy how to give back to the community.”
Money raised by Harcourts Tasmania will be put toward upgrading Epilepsy Tasmania’s website and social media platform.