Mary Duffy has been a proud neighbor of the Stanton family for many years. However, this relationship grew from neighbors to dear friends when her sons Brenden and Charlie began to play sports with the Stanton children. Danny Stanton and his siblings became buddies with her boys at the ballpark while Mary and her husband, developed their own friendship with Mike and Mariann on the sidelines. Mary says it did not take long for her to figure out what others already knew: Danny and his family are people that you want in your life.
Soon after Danny’s passing, Mary made the decision to leave her 15-year career in Human Resources to join the Danny Did Foundation, and now holds the title of Executive Director. She was motivated to make this change after learning that Danny’s parents were not provided the chance to keep Danny safe. They were not educated by Danny’s healthcare team on all possible risks associated with seizures, specifically SUDEP, nor the preventative measures. She believes families have the right to honest and informative conversations with medical providers that include all options and treatments that may protect their loved one. Her goal of spreading SUDEP awareness includes encouraging researchers, investigators, healthcare providers and device manufacturers to come together to find the answer to SUDEP. And, she believes Danny Stanton and the many others lost too soon to SUDEP deserve to see these changes made in their memory.
Mary is married to a Chicago firefighter and lives in Edgebrook on the northwest side of Chicago. She earned her Bachelor’s of Science at Northern Illinois University and her Master’s in Human Resources at Loyola University in Chicago.
Mary can be reached at mduffy@dannydid.org.