Funds for Angelo, Portland run, walk highlight aneurysm awareness month

Frank Loli accepts a check from Lebanon Voice editor Harrison Thorp on Tuesday at the Pizza Nook in downtown Milton. The Milton Moose is also in the midst of a fund-raiser to help the Loli Family. (Courtesy photo)

MILTON - After a two-month long fund-raising campaign, The Lebanon Voice made a donation to the Angels for Angelo fund on Tuesday.

The Angels for Angelo fund is dedicated to helping the Loli family of Milton with the overwhelming expense in treating and rehabilitating their son, Angelo, who suffered a particularly insidious form of brain aneurysm in January 2014.

AVM, the type Angelo suffered, is a congenital disease in which there is a tangle of arteries and veins due to weak arterial muscle. The malformation leads to an increased risk of hemorrhage in the brain leading to neurological symptoms. AVM is silent till symptoms of seizure or migraine-like headache occur.
For Angelo, now 18, the complications were far flung: a loss of motor skills, of eyesight in his right eye and short-term memory.

Angelo has battled back, however, is now home and begins his senior year at Nute High School next week, his father said on Tuesday.

Angelo Loli, with his mom, Anthulla, at their Milton home, which has been specially equipped to help Angelo get around on his own.

The presentation of the check from The Lebanon Voice was made at the Pizza Nook, a Milton restaurant owned by the Loli family.

Coincidentally, September is national Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month, and The Lebanon Voice will continue its fund-raising efforts for the Maine Brain Aneurysm Foundation with 5 percent of new ad revenue being donated at month's end.

This Saturday the 7th annual KAT-Walk & Karo-5K will be held in Portland.

It is in honor of Kimberly A. Tudor and Karolina Kurka, two young women from Maine who died from sudden ruptured brain aneurysms. The event has now grown to include many more families affected by brain aneurysms. The day is also used to honor survivors and remember loved ones lost to this often undetected silent killer. For more info on the day's activities click here.

Lebanon Voice president Martha T. Soto-Galicia, who suffered a brain aneurysm last February, has vowed to walk the two-mile KAT-Walk.

She suffered sudden-onset diabetes, short-term memory and vision loss as a result of the rupture.

Soto-Galicia and Thorp have since championed for quicker response times and early detection among EMS and other health providers to more quickly recognize brain aneurysms which are frequently misdiagnosed with often fatal consequences, according to the national Brain Aneurysm Foundation. For more info on this problem click here and then click on video titled Brain Aneurysm Symptoms.

The Lebanon Voice has previously contributed to My Breast Cancer Awareness and the American Heart Association and has recently concentrated on more local charitable endeavors.