Meryl Streep: One Awesome Little Known Fact That Will Bring You To Tears [Video]

Everyone knows that Meryl Streep is an astoundingly talented actress. Less known, however, is the great depth of compassion that Meryl contains within her tender heart. For the past two decades, Meryl Streep has been the spokesperson for a highly effective yet rare treatment for pediatric epilepsy, the ketogenic diet.

Meryl Streep’s involvement began in the early 1990’s when the son of her very close friends was diagnosed with epilepsy. Charlie was just 20 months old when his parents, Hollywood producer Jim Abrahams and his wife Nancy, took him to Johns Hopkins Hospital to begin an alternative epilepsy treatment. At the time, Charlie was having from a few up to a hundred seizures daily. He was taking a combination of four anti-epileptic drugs every day.

The ketogenic diet changed all that for Charlie in a very short time. After spending five years on the strict high fat, low carbohydrate diet, he was diet free, medication free, and seizure free. Jim and Nancy Abrahams launched the Charlie Foundation to help other parents of epileptic children find their way to the highly effective ketogenic diet, which has not been widely promoted by doctors. Watching her friends go through this difficult time prompted Meryl Streep to join the cause to spread the news about the diet.

Since the beginning, Meryl Streep has been deeply involved in the fight to cure childhood epilepsy. Meryl Streep has filmed an introduction video for parents who are interested in the treatment. The following video clip shows Meryl Streep in the introduction video produced by Jim Abrahams.

Meryl Streep also appeared in a feature length movie, First Do No Harm, based on a true story about a mother who, against all odds, essentially kidnapped her epileptic son from a hospital in a race against time to save his life. Her portrayal of a desperate mother on a mission to save her son was heartfelt and beautiful.

I came to see this side of Meryl Streep when my own child was a candidate for the ketogenic diet. The very nature of being in such a desperate situation evokes fear of a magnitude that cannot be easily understood by parents with typical children. The calm and soothing demeanor and tone that Meryl Streep employs in these videos truly have the power to calm nerves and deliver a heaping dose of hope. I’m happy to report that the ketogenic diet was successful for my little boy, as well! As with any diet, Inquisitr recommends that readers consult their physician before trying the ketogenic diet a means of treating epilepsy.

To this day, Meryl Streep continues to work with the Charlie Foundation in the battle to overcome pediatric epilepsy.

[Image via Fan Pop]