2006 Kids Speak Up! Participant Biography

Brian Viens

Age: 16
Grade: 10
Hometown: Signal Mountain, Tennessee

"I want to be treated fairly. Who cares if I or someone else has an illness, a medical condition, or a disability? We all have red blood; we're the same and should be treated that way."

Brian Viens is a courageous teen who is speaking out about his condition. He recently shared his experience with epilepsy to members from his youth group at church.

While playing racquetball with his father, Brian experienced his first seizure at 13 years old. The last thing he remembers was his dad saying, "Your turn to serve." When he later woke up, he had wires hooked up to his heart, stomach and fingers. For almost four hours, he had to undergo a series of examines, before he was diagnosed with juvenile myoclonic seizure disorder.

Chattanooga, Tennessee's local newspaper, The Chattanoogan, recently featured an article about Brian and the Epilepsy Foundation of Southeast Tennessee entitled Local Youth To Speak Up In Washington, D.C.

The enthusiastic teen is "stoked" about joining the other 44 kids on Capitol Hill to encourage legislators for advanced epilepsy research.

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