Help Ashley raise money

Hello friends! My name is Ashley Bennett and I created Team SMASH to help with research and stigma regarding Concussions and Chronic Intractable Migraine. The SMASH is a little nod to the fact that I keep "smash"ing my head into different things (haha)! We are in Year 5 of Team SMASH and have raised almost $4000 as a team for Migraine and Headache Disorders!

I had my first concussion in high school and developed Post Concussion Syndrome. I spent most of my senior year in a dark room with an ice pack on my head. After these PCS symptoms lasted many months, I then shifted into the land of Chronic Migraine! After two more concussions due to motor vehicle accidents, I developed Chronic Intractable Migraine, which means that I deal with some level of migraine every day, ranging from a small headache to being fully incapacitated. I have had a migraine of some level every day since February 6, 2022.

 I have seen the wonderful staff at Main Line Health's Headache Center at Lankenau Medical Center (shoutout to Dr. Recober and Alisha) and at Bryn Mawr Rehab KOP, and now I see the wonderful staff at Jefferson Headache Center (shoutout Dr. Nahas and the JHC team). I've had four week-long inpatient hospital admissions for Migraine at Jefferson Methodist in the past three years. Other than being a migraine patient, I am a high school Theology Teacher, I am in graduate school for my MA in Pastoral Theology, and I play guitar! I have lived in all five counties of the Philadelphia area and currently reside in Northeast Philadelphia.

Miles for Migraine has helped me to be confident in advocating for Migraine and other headache disorders that affect 1 in 5 women in the US and are the leading cause of disability in women ages 15-49. I am happy to serve on the Philadelphia Miles for Migraine Planning Committee for my third year and as an advocate for Team Pennsylvania for Headache on the Hill! I also speak about migraine with pharmaceutical companies and other organizations to increase awareness about this disease. Miles for Migraine has also connected me with my Young Adult Migraine Support Group (shoutout Sunday Night Live), and I have met so many other migraine patients from around North America thanks to this wonderful organization.

I hope to break my fundraising record of $2000 to fund more research into migraine treatments. I have been blessed to receive so many treatments, especially new medications that have only just recently come on the market thanks to research into this neurological disorder. I hope that in our fundraising efforts, more treatments can become available, especially for those like me who are in Migraine pain every day. Know of my love and prayers for you always <3

-Ashley "SMASH" Bennett