The Lisa Foundation, the U.S. leader in driving awareness and education in the fight against brain aneurysms, has joined forces with Whoopi Goldberg and CVS Pharmacy during Brain Aneurysm Awareness month to launch a first-of-its-kind national campaign to educate Americans about the signs and symptoms of a brain aneurysm to help prevent potential ruptures and deaths. In partnership with CVS Pharmacy, the public service announcement (PSA) will be rolled out across its 8,000 U.S. retail locations through its in-store radio network as well as on its social media channels.
In 2015, a brain aneurysm tragically took the life of Whoopi Goldberg’s brother and only sibling, Clyde, in addition to robbing Todd Crawford of his wife, Lisa Colagrossi, a longstanding and adored anchor and reporter for New York’s flagship station, channel 7 ABC Eyewitness News. The news of Lisa’s passing made headlines around the world, shocked the media industry and was followed by public tributes from many notable media personalities, including Whoopi Goldberg on ‘The View.’
“The Lisa Foundation was created with the goal of leading the fight against brain aneurysms through awareness and education to provide Americans with critical information needed to make an informed decision to spare themselves and others the same fate that my wife and Whoopi’s brother experienced. Brain aneurysms are a silent killer and we are breaking the silence to create a national conversation around this deadly disorder,” said Todd Crawford, Founder of The Lisa Foundation. “Whoopi experienced a tremendous personal loss due to a brain aneurysm and we appreciate her sharing her story as a rallying cry for everyone to learn more about brain aneurysms. Through our partnership with Whoopi, as well as working with CVS Pharmacy to roll this campaign out nationally, we have the opportunity to reach millions of people with life-saving information and help prevent more lives from being taken.”
The PSA helps shed light on brain aneurysms and addresses major knowledge gaps revealed by the industry’s first survey, sponsored by The Lisa Foundation, which found that most Americans had little to no understanding of brain aneurysms and 100 percent of Americans were unable to identify most warning signs.
In particular, the public service announcement creatively depicts and explains some of the top symptoms of a brain aneurysm – such as the sudden onset of the worst headache of your life (WHOL), a sharp pain behind or above one eye and blurry or double vision – through the use of icons and graphics developed by The Lisa Foundation to emphasize the need to seek immediate medical treatment.
“Too few people understand the signs and symptoms of a brain aneurysm, which requires a campaign like this to help elevate awareness in order to increase early detection and improve outcomes,” said Dr. Howard Riina, professor, vice chair of Neurosurgery at New York University Langone Medical Center and head of the medical board for The Lisa Foundation. “As Todd, Whoopi and countless other individual experiences tell us, knowing the facts can make a life or death difference. Knowledge can help save a life, but we must help start the conversation and we’re proud to be leading those efforts in memory of Lisa and on behalf of everyone who has lost a loved one to a brain aneurysm.”
The public service announcement as well as critical information about the signs and symptoms of a brain aneurysm are available at lisafoundation.org.
