Members of Sunday League football team Shrimpos are on a mission to mark 1000 days since the loss of Ramsgate man Stephen Shrimpton.
Stephen, known as Shrimpo to his friends, passed away on April 24, 2023, aged just 26.
Stephen was a huge Liverpool FC fan and also enjoyed playing football until a worsening of his epilepsy meant he could no longer continue. He did, however, attend matches to see his best friend Reece Wiggins and his team play on Sundays.
The intensity of Stephen’s epilepsy increased in his 20s and began to affect his memory and speech, impacting his confidence.
Sadly, the former St George’s student died following a seizure.
Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) is a rare, fatal complication where a person with epilepsy dies suddenly without another clear cause, often during or after a seizure. It affects around one in 1,000 adults with epilepsy every year.
In 2024 Shrimpos team was formed in memory of Stephen and members are now undertaking a 1000km collective run to honour their friend and raise a target of £500 for the Epilepsy Society.
Team manager Ben Seal said: “ Last year we made a team in honour of Stephen and won the league.
“This year, after a promotion, we have continued. We raise awareness of epilepsy and work very closely with Epilepsy Society whose logo is on our football kits.
“To mark 1,000 days (since the loss of Stephen) we decided to do a collective run of 1,000km.
“In the first week we managed around 100km. We post every run or walk we do to socials and GoFundMe so people can keep track of our progress.
“All funds go to the Epilepsy Society and we are aiming to raise £500. We have 11 man and one woman helping out with the challenge and more people are welcome to join us either walking or running.
“ It’s a massive task that we’ve taken on in Stephen’s memory but the more people that join us in tackling the 1,000km, the more people that hear Stephen’s story and learn about epilepsy.
“ We’ve worked closely with the Epilepsy Society for the last 18 months and this season took the step of having their logo on our kits.
“The team has to complete the 1,000km outside of football so games and training do not count.”
Since the team began there have been many fundraiser events held in Stephen’s memory.
Friend and Shrimpos founder Reece has run three very successful charity games, raising thousands of pounds to help pay funeral and headstone costs, with the remainder distributed between epilepsy charities.
There have also been collections taken during matches with a donation made to Pie Factory Music and, alongside players on the Prince Albert team, a donation to needy families of six crates of food and baby supplies.
Some £300 was also raised to buy meals from The Golden Fishbar and handed out to people who were in need as well as Shrimpos merchandise raising fund for the epilepsy charity.
To keep track of the Shrimpos progress go to: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559391742509
To find out more and donate go to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/1000-days-to-1000-kms?lang=en_GB
Find help and advice at the Epilepsy Society: https://epilepsysociety.org.uk/living-epilepsy/what-help-available
Positive and very very kind – thanks for everything thing Diane to raise awareness of epilepsy . Donated .
Done to raise (Diane a typo mistake )