His sister has a rare form of epilepsy, so he’s setting up a lemonade stand to raise money

POCATELLO (KPVI) – One local boy is raising money with a lemonade stand, and he’s doing it for his sister Josie, who has a rare and severe type of epilepsy.

This lemonade stand will be a socially distanced one, but the money raised will go to the KCNT1 Gene Mutation Foundation.

Josie Fernandez’s specific epilepsy is called MMPSI, which stands for malignant migrating partial seizures of infancy. Those with this condition often experience recurring seizures within a few weeks of birth and the seizures usually occur in specific regions of the brain rather than affecting the entire brain, according to Genetics Home Reference.

“Although affected individuals may develop normally at first, progression stalls and skills decline when seizures begin. As a result, affected individuals have profound developmental delays,” the website says.

The cause of the condition isn’t clear and researchers are still trying to determine how to treat it.

Ultimately, Jenny Park, the mother of Josie hopes members of the community will show support, not only for Josie but to learn more about epilepsy.

“It’s been hard,” said Park, “My daughter spent a lot of her life in the hospital or just not physically doing well, so it’d be great to see the support of the community as well as just to show support for others who struggle with epilepsy in general.”

The event starts at 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 8. The lemonade stand will be held at 1291 El Rancho Blvd in Pocatello.

For more information on MMPSI or to donate to the KCNT1 Epilepsy Foundation, click here.