Desperate Votes Needed for Final Push to Help Win Crucial Pepsi Grant to Help Cure Rare Disease

LIVONIA, Mich., Nov. 29, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- A Rolesville, NC family whose son is stricken with a rare, neurological and incurable disorder may win a major donation, but they need crucial votes in the remaining days of the Pepsi Refresh Project this month.

Matthew Wuchich, 3, was diagnosed with Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC) when he was 18 months old, and spent this Thanksgiving Day enduring one of the most painful, full body attacks of AHC of his young life. In Wuchich's case, the rare, permanent neurological disorder causes painful attacks of temporary paralysis that can last minutes or days.

The AHC Foundation's grant request is currently in 2nd place for the Pepsi Refresh Project, needing precious additional votes in the few remaining hours of the competition to win the $250,000 top prize. Already, a committed group of AHC parents have catapulted their AHC grant request from 235th to 2nd place, but fear a last day voting surge this Tuesday could knock them out of the coveted top 2 spots.

To vote, please visit http://www.RefreshEverything.com/cureAHC. Online votes can be cast once daily through midnight EST on November 30, 2010. Additionally, votes can be texted at 104112 to 73774.

"We've come too far to lose now," said Jeff Wuchich, Matthew's father. "We really want to put kids first this month!" The rare children's disease impairs the ability to learn, giving Wuchich limited communication skills that often leave him visibly frustrated. It also affects muscle control, causing shallow breathing and difficulty walking and swallowing. "The attacks of paralysis are often painful," said Wuchich. "They're not like epileptic seizures, where consciousness is lost; Matthew is conscious the entire time - he just can't move."

For more information on Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, visit the AHC Foundation website at http://www.AHCKids.org/. (U.S. voters only please!)

SOURCE AHC Foundation