Heres the article from NJ: Fans of AMCs The Walking Dead typically saw Emily Kinney scrambling away from flesh-eating zombies and surviving off stolen goods while playing Beth Greene last season on the hit drama series. But when the 29-year-old singer-songwriter took the stage at Trinity United Methodist Church, her cheerful laughter and soft spoken lyrics offered a sharp contrast to her apocalyptic character last seen being driven away in season four. “I saw someone with a ‘We know where Beth is’ sign. It’s a secret I’m here tonight,” Kinney said jokingly Friday night to the Ewing crowd. “Don’t tell anyone.” The concert was the last show of the year in Pennington resident Eric Millers ongoing Candlelight Concert series to promote epilepsy awareness. Miller started the series after his wife Carolina died in 2011 of an epilepsy attack. The night included performances by Kinney and musicians Chris Barron of Spin Doctors, Dan Reed and Sofia Nicole, of East Brunswick. More than 100 attendees filled the churchs pews shortly after 7 p.m. in front of microphones and other musical equipment set up on the stage prior to the performances, many whispering in anticipation of Kinneys appearance. Members of the Epilepsy Foundation of New Jersey were also present in the churchs lobby collecting donations and distributing pamphlets related to epilepsy. Miller began hosting and webcasting concerts from his living room as a way of honoring his wife after her death, and the series has since taken off. Last March, Miller organized 50 concerts in 50 states with a wide range of performers, including big-name musicians such as Eric Clapton and Rita Coolidge. Its pretty inspiring to me that hes been able to do that and taken what was probably so painful and difficult and ease the pain in someone elses life, Kinney told The Times of Trenton in a telephone interview Wednesday. Miller, a Walking Dead fan himself, contacted Kinneys managers to include her in the lineup, he said. Guest speaker Brittany Gresham, a 17-year-old senior at Jackson Memorial High School, also shared her personal experience with the disorder that she was diagnosed with at 6 years old, she said. When she was younger and wanted to sleep over her friends houses, her mother would have to explain to their parents that Gresham had epilepsy, Gresham said. Theyd say, We don’t want to be responsible for that. We don’t want that in our house, Gresham said. Her last seizure was Nov. 9, 2010 when she was in eighth grade, she said. “For anyone living with epilepsy, just know you can do this and it does get better,” she said. “You have to get to the end to see the rainbow.” Epilepsy by the numbers, according to the Epilepsy Foundation: • 65 million people worldwide have epilepsy. • More than 2 million people in the United States suffer from the brain disorder. • 150,000 new cases of epilepsy are diagnosed in the U.S. annually. • One in 26 people nationwide will develop epilepsy at some point in their lives. • Six out of 10 people with epilepsy do not know what caused it. Carolina Miller suffered sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) which, along with prolonged seizures and other seizure-related events such as drowning, account for about 50,000 deaths annually in the U.S., according to Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy. In the six years the Millers knew each other, she only had two seizures, the second being fatal, he said. Miller offered advice on how to handle someone experiencing a seizure. “The myth that someone can swallow their tongue is incredibly wrong,” he sad. “If you see someone having a seizure, never put something in their mouth. Just put them on their side, time the seizure if you can and protect them.” For more information about Millers series, visit candlelightconcert.org. Nicole Mulvaney may be reached at nmulvaney@njtimes. Follow her on Twitter @NicoleMulvaney. Find The Times
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 00:23:55 +0000
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