Jake Bugg to play Bianca Freitas benefit

On Stage Lab, the live entertainment educational institution co-founded by the late Bianca Freitas, has announced the Paralise o Guillain-Barré fund to raise awareness and money for research into Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Freitas (pictured), a popular Brazilian concert promoter and long-time ILMC member, passed away last October after losing her battle with the autoimmune disease.

Paralise o Guillain-Barré (‘Paralyse Guillain-Barré’) will officially launch on 8 March, the first day of ILMC 29, with a show by Jake Bugg at a secret location in Brazil.

The 200 people attending the event, who will receive invitations via On Stage Lab partners and social media, will “receive more information about Guillain-Barré syndrome from doctors, and will be able to post snippets of the singer’s appearance on their social media accounts with the hashtag #InformaçãoNãoParalisa (#InformationDoesntParalyze),” explains On Stage Lab’s other founder, Fabiana Lian.

Paralise o Guillain-Barré will officially launch on Wednesday 8 March, the first day of ILMC 29

“Everyone who wins places in this special presentation should bring food donations, which will be donated to the Bianca’s Day project, created by the family of Bianca. […] Food donations will be directed an NGO that takes care of poor people in Sao Paulo and Brasilia.”

According to Lian, Paralise o Guillain-Barré has two goals: to inform the Brazilian population about the disease, how it develops and whether it has any relation to the Zika virus; and to raise funds for scientific research into the disease.

Donations can be made on crowdfunding platform Kickante. All money will be directed to the department of neurology at the University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), one of the few institutions in Brazil that undertakes research into diseases of the peripheral nervous system, including Guillain-Barré syndrome.

The World Health Organisation estimates incidences of the syndrome grew 19% year on year in Brazil between January and December 2015. The total number of cases was 1,708 – more than five a day.

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