{"id":264903,"date":"2026-05-09T16:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T16:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/264903\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T16:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T16:08:08","slug":"south-florida-community-rallies-for-epilepsy-awareness-walk-at-zoo-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/264903\/","title":{"rendered":"South Florida community rallies for epilepsy awareness walk at Zoo Miami"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">MIAMI \u2014 People across South Florida gathered at Zoo Miami on Saturday morning for the 17th annual \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/walkthetalkfl.org\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/walkthetalkfl.org\/\">Walk the Talk<\/a>\u201d event to raise awareness and support for people living with epilepsy, a neurological disorder that affects about 1 in 26 people during their lifetime.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/espanol\/2026\/05\/09\/comunidad-del-sur-de-florida-se-une-en-caminata-de-concienciacion-sobre-la-epilepsia-en-zoo-miami\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/espanol\/2026\/05\/09\/comunidad-del-sur-de-florida-se-une-en-caminata-de-concienciacion-sobre-la-epilepsia-en-zoo-miami\/\">Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Families, survivors and supporters filled the event with music, dancing and community spirit, while sharing personal stories about how epilepsy has impacted their lives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t know much about epilepsy until my son was diagnosed,\u201d said Aleida Cardona, whose son Dominic was diagnosed before his first birthday and is now 13 years old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Cardona said epilepsy affects far more than seizures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a lot more than just seizures, it goes way beyond that,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re here to support all the purple warriors, all the families. Just to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Many attendees said they came to honor loved ones living with epilepsy or those who died from the disorder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cFor my uncle Clayton, that died with epilepsy,\u201d 9-year-old Lily said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAnd for my brother Roger who has epilepsy,\u201d 10-year-old Enid added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Local 10 News reporter Saira Anwer also shared her personal experience living with epilepsy for nearly a decade. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s so special to see so many people come out. Florida is the state with the highest prevalence of epilepsy cases,\u201d she said. \u201cSo this mission here in Florida is even more important just to bring people together. It impacts people in so many different ways.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Organizers with Epilepsy Alliance Florida said the goal of the event is to connect families with resources and remind them they are not alone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cIt is possible with the right support to live a very fulfilling, great life,\u201d said Monica Rodriguez with <a href=\"https:\/\/epilepsyalliancefl.org\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/epilepsyalliancefl.org\/\">Epilepsy Alliance Florida<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re here to do \u2014 help people get there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The organization was also raising money during Saturday\u2019s event and said it is close to reaching its $200,000 fundraising goal. <a href=\"https:\/\/walkthetalkfl.org\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/walkthetalkfl.org\/\">Click here<\/a> to learn how you can contribute. <\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body__copyright\">Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 People across South Florida gathered at Zoo Miami on Saturday morning for the 17th annual \u201cWalk&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-264903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}