The ESPE Foundation is a social initiative of the Venezuelan artist Norka as a result of having been diagnosed with epilepsy and faced difficult times in her life as a result of the conditions of the disease.
Norka, a young Venezuelan singer with an exceptional talent and who astounded major producers from the artistic world, had a childhood filled of experiences; where art and music combined molded her to make the artist she is. A young woman, whom with effort and dedication managed to position herself as one of the new talents of Latin pop music.
However, her life took a 360 ° degree turn having to interrupt her artistic career as a result of the epilepsy attacks, and take on a new challenge alongside her family... finding a treatment that would help her battle the disease and return to the stage.
The artist begins her battle with epilepsy during her youth while studying abroad in Europe and it is not until the end of 2015 due to subsequent seizures, that she is surgically intervened at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, United States.
Norka had a first diagnostic phase in which a surgical procedure was done where 13 electrodes were placed in her brain with the purpose of monitoring brain activity and locate the specific area where the seizures originated. Once extracted and the area detected, a last surgical intervention was done for her cure.
Norka explains, "The hardest stage from this process is seeing how my life changed completely". For Norka her biggest lesson was realizing that epilepsy is not an abnormality and it is important to inform people about the disease.
During recovery time Norka dedicated her time to exchanging experiences of patients with epilepsy on social media, an activity that has led her to officially create the ESPE Foundation, which seeks to provide and facilitate not only information but also financial support to individuals and families who suffer from this condition and do not have resources for treatment.