Marlins for Mason is the East Coast’s Newest, Most Inspirational Fishing Tournament Catching a Cure Amanda Prather holds a lot of titles ranging from Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant and primary caregiver to simply Mom. Those were understandable goals and life choices, but never did she imagine adding the role of Tournament Director to that list—that was until her son Mason suddenly needed her to don all of those hats at once to help manage his critical medical needs. Amanda’s husband, John Prather, is an experienced Captain and Sales Professional for Bluewater Yacht Sales—a Maryland native with a family entrenched in the charter industry and offshore fishing scene. The two set out on a relatively storybook life together, starting their family in Ocean City, where they hoped to raise their children in the same vibrant fishing community they so loved and enjoyed. However, those dreams quickly took a backseat when their infant son, Mason, suffered his first seizure at four months of age. To their horror, it would be far from the last, and within the next three months, Mason was diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome, a type of developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. A DIRE OUTLOOK In layman’s terms, Dravet is a rare, severe form of epilepsy that causes frequent, intense seizures, developmental setbacks, and challenges with many everyday activities. Now at five years old, Mason has faced hundreds of seizures that have resulted in countless trips to the emergency room and serious hospitalizations. There is currently no cure and few effective treatment options for this debilitating disease. Like Mason, most Dravet Syndrome patients present within the first 2-15 months of life. The seizures are prolonged, not well-managed with current medications and evolve with age alongside other issues, including but not limited to, behavioral and developmental delays, movement and balance issues and feeding and nutritional challenges. According to research cited by the Dravet Syndrome Foundation, “patients face a 1520% mortality rate due to SUDEP (Sudden 42 BLUEWATER
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