Kids & Family

Sparta Teen with Epilepsy Stars in New Educational Comic Book

Fourteen-year-old Jack Dau's story is being featured in an effort to make the world's children more aware of and compassionate regarding people with medical conditions.

Have you ever wanted to be the star of a comic book? Sparta's Jack Dau, a 14-year-old living with epilepsy, is living that dream and helping people in a fun way. The teen is stepping into the spotlight to share the story of how he's faced the challenges of his condition in the new comic, "Medikidz Explain Epilepsy," according to the Sparta Independent.

Dau said he heard about the comic book project from the Epilepsy Foundation of New Jersey. The endeavor is the work of Medikidz, a global initiative set up by doctors to explain medical matters to children. Once Dau and his parents were on board with the idea of featuring the teen's story in one of the firm's publications, he was interviewed by the company and consulted to ensure the accuracy of their representation of his experiences, the article said.

The story features characters known as the Medikidz, five teen superheroes who use their powers to take young people on a journey through the human body. The ignorance-fighting crusaders appear in a series of comics covering a host of issues ranging from depression and food allergies to cancer and Alzheimer's disease. The goal is to teach children to understand what others are enduring and the challenges they face. The edition featuring Jack Dau is being made available via mail, courtesy of Woodcliff Lake company Eisai Inc., which is sponsoring the effort to end the stigma surrounding epilepsy, the article said. You can order your free copy via Eisai's website.

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