By Bri Salgado
Salisbury Post
Until he was 18 months old, Riley Brown was a perfectly healthy baby. Then he began having seizures. Now 4 years old, Riley is living with a severe form of epilepsy.
A fundraiser this weekend will help pay for treatment he needs but his family’s insurance doesn’t cover.
His mother, Ashley England, said that Riley began having 100-200 uncontrollable seizures a day right after his 18-month immunizations.
By the time Riley was 3, he was behaving like a 2-month-old. He was no longer walking or talking, and he lacked the ability to even hold his head up.
England said doctors prescribed different medications and different diets, but nothing was helping Riley progress. The seizures continued.
The day after Riley’s fourth birthday, he had brain surgery.
“Three days after the surgery, he walked out of the hospital after not walking for a year.” England said.
Riley is still a non-verbal child. The family has been referred to a doctor in Plainsville, N. Y. for a treatment that will help Riley develop speech.
The treatment is more than $2,000 per week, and the family’s insurance will not cover the cost. Riley has to have this expensive treatment two hours a day, five days a week. Riley will be receiving treatment every other month if he shows signs of improvement.
To raise money for the treatment and transportation, England and her mother, Debra Brown, are having a flapjack fundraiser Saturday at the Applebees at 205 Faith Road. Anyone is welcome. The cost will be $7 per person.
Riley and his family are departing for New York on April 5.