This Redditor Called Out a Minor League Baseball Team's Epilepsy Awareness Night
On Tuesday, Reddit user Thugzz_Bunny posted a screenshot in the site’s “Funny” subreddit of a tweet advertising a minor league baseball team’s epilepsy awareness night.
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“My hometown minor league team must not know what epilepsy is,” the user wrote, with this photo attached:
Support a great cause and join @EpilepsySETN tonight at AT&T Field. 7:15 Start. David Hurlbut is on the mound. pic.twitter.com/o15O1MWz41
— Chattanooga Lookouts (@ChattLookouts) August 7, 2015
The tweet was for the Chattanooga Lookouts‘ first annual “Strike Out Epilepsy” awareness night, which featured a postgame fireworks show on August 7. More than 4,000 people attended the event in Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to the Epilepsy Foundation Southeast Tennessee. Players also wore purple, an epilepsy awareness color, for the game.
Some Reddit users found the postgame activity ironic because for someone with photosensitive epilepsy, flashing lights or contrasting light and dark patterns can trigger seizures, according to the Epilepsy Society. If viewed too closely, fireworks can be dangerous for someone with photosensitive epilepsy. It’s important to note that contrary to popular belief, not everyone with epilepsy is affected by flashing lights or fireworks. Of the 65 million people who have epilepsy, about 3 percent have photosensitive epilepsy, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.
Some firework photos from the @ChattLookouts game!#FireworkFriday#LookoutsWin pic.twitter.com/ImJkn71jtj
— Craig Gordon (@RockyTopSkiBum) August 8, 2015
This Reddit user is not alone in pointing out the potential threat of flashing lights to people with photosensitive epilepsy, though. Recently, both Twitter and Virgin Media came under fire from an epilepsy charity group for posting flashing videos that could potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy.
h/t Reddit
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