Greater epilepsy awareness could be as simple as a walk on the beach, thanks to one New Jersey man.

Kyle Adamkiewicz, 33, has lived with epilepsy since being diagnosed at age 6. He is now combining his love of art with the power of nature to help bring his seizure disorder into the spotlight.

In Oct. 2022, Adamkiewicz began collecting seashells from the New Jersey shore, then painting and decorating them with heartfelt messages in search of a cure. He places his works of art along the seaside boardwalks in the hopes that they will inspire strangers to spread the word — and the shells.

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“It started with just painting a few shells, and I figured no one would find them,” Adamkiewicz said in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

“And then I saw people posting them online, and writing so many good and positive comments about the shells and about finding a cure for epilepsy. That motivated me to keep making more and more and more.”

Kyle Adamkiewicz, shown above, now 33, has lived with epilepsy since he was diagnosed at age 6. He is combining his love of art with the power of nature to help raise awareness of his disease. (Adamkiewicz family)

“And now they have been around the entire world.”

Adamkiewicz doesn’t drive, so his parents — Chuck and Laurie Adamkiewicz — drive him to place his shells.

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“We have shells with us in the car all the time, and he places them in different locations, different towns,” his mother told Fox News Digital.

Adamkiewicz estimates that he’s painted some 1,100 shells so far.

Many include messages about finding a cure for epilepsy, but he has also created themed designs for various occasions, like Shark Week and Halloween.

Adamkiewicz has painted over 1,000 shells so far. “Our entire living room consists of nothing but shells and paint,” joked Adamkiewicz’s mother. (Adamkiewicz family)

“Our entire living room consists of nothing but shells and paint,” joked Adamkiewicz’s mother.

In addition to a hand-painted design, each shell contains Adamkiewicz’s initials, the year he decorated it and a QR code.

When people find the shells and scan the QR code, it takes them to a website. From there, they can access Adamkiewicz’s Facebook group, his Instagram account and a GoFundMe page set up to help raise funds for people to get “seizure alert” dogs.

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It also links to the Epilepsy Foundation website, where people can learn what to do if they witness someone having a seizure.

“Most people don’t really know how to handle someone if they’re having a seizure,” Adamkiewicz told Fox News Digital. “They just turn their back and walk the opposite way.”

In addition to a hand-painted design, each shell contains Adamkiewiczs’s initials, the year he decorated it and a QR code. (Adamkiewicz family)

“One out of 26 people in the world have epilepsy, but it’s basically a hidden disease that nobody really wants to know about.”

The Adamkiewicz family has a map of the world hanging on the wall — with pushpins to mark where the shells have been found, they told Fox News Digital.

In addition to locations across the U.S., shells have also been scanned in Mexico City, Greece, Italy, Panama, Canada, Nova Scotia, France, South Korea and Germany, Adamkiewicz said.

“One out of 26 people in the world have epilepsy, but it’s basically a hidden disease.”

“People will find the shells and take them to those places,” Adamkiewicz said. “And sometimes people will ask me for shells to take to wherever they are traveling.”

He’s also partnered with the hospital to get kids with epilepsy involved in his project, bringing shells in for them so they can paint their own designs.

Touching lives

Beyond helping to find a cure, Adamkiewicz has a goal of reducing bullying of people with epilepsy.

Adamkiewicz is pictured with his mother, Laurie Adamkiewicz. In April, he underwent a procedure to implant a responsive neurostimulation (RNS) device in his brain, which will gather data about his seizure activity. (Adamkiewicz family)

“When I was growing up, if my parents or brother weren’t there, I was always made fun of in school and in the neighborhood,” Adamkiewicz said. “Especially right after I had a seizure — the kids would just stare at me and make fun of me.”

He went on, “I want people to know it’s OK to be friends with someone with epilepsy.”

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At one point, during second and third grade, he estimates that he was having 100 seizures per day.

“It’s been a very hard and lonely life for Kyle, and very painful to see as a mother and father,” Laurie Adamkiewicz added.

The goal, she said, is that the shells will help to make life a little easier for those with epilepsy — and their families.

Adamkiewicz said his seashell project has been a therapeutic endeavor for him. “If it’s been a really bad day, that’s mostly what I’ll be doing,” he said. (Adamkiewicz family)

Adamkiewicz’s mother recalled a man who posted about a personal experience on the Facebook group.

“His son had passed away, and the man goes to the ocean every morning to say good morning to his son,” she said. “And there was the epilepsy shell, and he said he started crying. He said it was just like a gift to him.”

She added, “You never know whose lives you’re touching.”

Taking control

Since age 12, Adamkiewicz has been a patient at NYU Langone’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, one of the largest programs in the nation, where he’s had a series of brain surgeries.

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In April, he underwent a procedure to implant a responsive neurostimulation (RNS) device in his brain, which will gather data about his seizure activity.

Neurosurgeon Peter Rozman, M.D., performed the surgery alongside his mentor, Werner K. Doyle, M.D., Adamkiewicz’s longtime doctor.

Adamkiewicz and his mom, Laurie Adamkiewiz, are pictured with some of his painted shells. (Adamkiewicz family)

“This system has the capacity to actually record brain activity in the form of electrical waves that detect when the seizures start, so it can deliver an impulse to the brain at that time, with the goal of aborting the seizure,” Rozman said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

The data collected by the device is sent to the neurologist, who uses that information to program the device to better capture and treat the seizures, he said.

“Over time, people see more and more improvement in their seizures,” Rozman said.

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Rozman praised Adamkiewicz’s seashell project, emphasizing the importance of increasing awareness of the condition.

“And it gives him an outlet, too,” the doctor said. “Having other people to talk about your condition with and being part of a community can be very helpful.”

Each shell contains a QR code that a person can scan to access information, resources and fundraisers for epilepsy. (Adamkiewicz family)

In a way, Rozman said, Adamkiewicz is turning his epilepsy into a good thing.

“It’s beneficial on both sides — for raising awareness and also allowing Kyle to have more control and to drive the story,” he said. 

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“It can be such a devastating thing to have to deal with on a daily basis, and having some sort of license and control over that is really important.”

Adamkiewicz agreed that his project has been a therapeutic endeavor for him.

“We want to teach people how to be kind, and how to help.”

“If it’s been a really bad day, that’s mostly what I’ll be doing,” he said.

“Like earlier today, I was painting some shells and had my ear buds in, just listening to some music. I’m just so focused on painting the shells that I zone everybody else out.”

Adamkiewicz’s shells have been found in many cities and countries around the world, including in Paris, France. (Adamkiewicz family)

Adamkiewicz and his mother are also working on a children’s book to teach kids more about epilepsy and what to do if someone is having a seizure.

“When someone has a seizure, it can be frightening to other children,” said Laurie Adamkiewicz mother.

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“So the goal is to get some information out there, to take the stigma away from the person who has epilepsy … We want to teach people how to be kind, and how to help.”

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for July 4, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for July 4, Wordle #1,111! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of today’s letters are from our mnemonic. The other is fairly common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

A first appearance.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with D. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with T. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is DEBUT.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, then tried AMEND, as options included the consonants M, D, and N. This left only three possible solutions (DUVET, DEBUT, and ETUDE), of which DEBUT seemed like the most common word.

Wordle 1,111 4/6

⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨
🟨⬛🟨⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was “this is a lower body part, colloquially” and the answer contained four common letters and one fairly common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was THIGH.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.