Chandler mayor proclaims Landon's Legacy Lifesaver Day; 50 certified in seizure first aid

Mayor Hartke issued a proclamation on April 12 declaring that day “Landon’s Legacy Lifesaver Day” across the City of Chandler, and a free emergency-response training at the Chandler Police Department certified 50 people in CPR, AED recognition and seizure first aid, organizers said.

The training was organized by the Landon Legacy Foundation and included instruction from the Epilepsy Foundation Arizona. Organizers said the session reached the maximum capacity of the community room at the Chandler Police Department, certifying 50 participants.

A Landon Legacy representative said the nonprofit seeks to fill gaps in local services for people with rare disease and disability: “We started Grassroots and we've been looking for gaps in the community. We don't wanna duplicate what other nonprofits are doing. We'd really like to work with them, but to serve the people for those with rare disease and disability, which, you know, sounds like it's a small amount, but really it's a a larger amount of people that we'd like to help. And not just kids, adults too.”

Brittney Miller, executive director of the Epilepsy Foundation Arizona, described why seizure-awareness training matters and how seizures often differ from common portrayals: “People see epilepsy and seizures as how Hollywood portrays them, which that is a type of seizure, you know, the very convulsive tonic clonic seizures, but there's also absence seizures, focal aware seizures, focal unaware seizures, some seizures as just a certain limb moves. You know, it's so vast and different and I really just think people, it's an element of fear. They don't know what to do or they don't understand it so they don't wanna talk about it.”

Organizers highlighted several practical points taught in the session, including a statistic they said is important for public awareness — that one in 10 people will have a seizure at some point in their lifetime — and a simple set of actions often described as the “three S’s”: stay with the person, place them on their side, and keep them safe from nearby objects. The training combined those seizure-first-aid steps with CPR and AED-recognition instruction.

The Epilepsy Foundation’s stated mission is to ensure no one faces epilepsy alone; Miller said the group works on federal policy, research funding and community programs such as camps and family outings. Organizers advised individuals and organizations seeking free epilepsy first-aid training to contact the Epilepsy Foundation Arizona at epilepsy.com/local/arizona and noted support information for Landon Legacy is available at www.landonlegacyfoundation.org.

Lydia Currie, City of Chandler, provided the event information and organizer contacts.