Vermont PANDAS & PANS Awareness 5K Run/Walk

Welcome to the first-ever PANS/PANDAS Awareness event in Vermont! Join us for a 5K fun run and walk along in Burlington on October 12, 2024 to raise awareness for PANS/PANDAS here in Vermont—an often-overlooked autoimmune disorder said to affect 1 in 200 children. We’re calling on our amazing citizens of Vermont to join us in raising awareness and making the first steps towards change and healing.

Description 

Join us for a family-friendly 5K run/walk along the Burlington Rec Path. Everyone is welcome: from regularly runners ready to race to walkers looking for some good community fun. We'll have a DJ, snacks, cool t-shirts, medals for the kids, and some special guests to help us learn about this important condition facing our kids.

We are partnering with The Alex Manfull Fund, a New Hampshire-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, for our inaugural 5K event.  The Alex Manfull Fund (TAMF) supports awareness, education, and research to further understand the incidence, etiology, and best treatment of post-infectious neuroimmune disorders (aka PANDAS, PANS, and Autoimmune Encephalitis) with an emphasis on their manifestation in Adolescents and Young Adults. TAMF has established a fellowship fund at Dartmouth Hospital’s Neuroimmune Psychiatric Disorder (NIPD) clinic.  Net proceeds from our event will be given to NIPD in support of their clinic.

What are PANS and PANDAS?
PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) and PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections) occur when a child’s immune response to an infection causes inflammation in the brain. The inflammation can cause the sudden onset of behavioral, neurological, and personality changes. The effects of PANS/PANDAS on children and their families are devastating—yet these conditions are still relatively unknown in Vermont, making diagnosis and treatment extremely difficult. Learn more about this condition and its symptoms.

A note from Gaskell family

As a family of 5 living in Burlington, Vermont, we’ve endured the hardships of PANDAS and are rising up from its ashes to bring awareness. In September 2022, at age 8, our son experienced a sudden, acute onset of extreme neuropsychiatric symptoms. As his parents, we sought help from doctors, psychiatrists, and local resources but to no avail; his condition continued to spiral. Thanks to one of our son's former teachers, who witnessed our struggle and had read about PANDAS on Facebook, we got a first glimpse of what could be happening. In June 2023, a clinic at Dartmouth Hospital diagnosed our son with PANDAS. Since then, treatment and recovery have been long and arduous, however finally—now almost two years later—his condition has improved significantly. With a bit of blue sky returning for our family, we’ve emerged with a clear mission: to help others living with this devastating condition.