Headline: MGA Headquarters Serves as Important Stop in Frank Skoviera's “Drive Away Pain" Journey to Raise Awareness for Trigeminal Neuralgia

For Immediate Release: November 7, 2016

The MGA staff was grateful to welcome Frank Skoviera and his dog Max to Norton and learn more about Trigeminal Neuralgia.

Norton, MA — It doesn’t take a whole lot of looking around to know that the golf community, both locally and abroad, is a fairly tight community.

When any one of the 93 state golf associations who are spread across the 50 United States, Bermuda and Puerto Rico reach out asking for a helping hand, it should come as no surprise that many come calling with the “all hands on deck” mentality.

Such was the case recently when the Florida State Golf Association Director of GHIN Services Aaron Skoviera reached out to golf associations across the country asking for a helping hand for something that was quite personal to him: his family.

For the last 15 years, his father, Frank Skoviera, has suffered from Trigeminal Neuralgia, a chronic pain disease that is described as the “worse pain known to man.” It is an example of a neuropathic pain which is defined as pain caused by injury to or malfunctioning of the nervous system. It has also been referred to as the "suicide disease" because of the number of people that have taken their own life from this affliction.

On Monday, November 7, Frank Skoviera and his four-year old yellow Labrador Max stopped by the Golf House headquarters located at TPC Boston as part of their cross-country trip to spread awareness of the disease, which affects more than 200,000 individuals per year and for which there is no known cure.

The trip is part of Skoviera’s “Drive Away the Pain” campaign to help raise crucial funds to the Facial Pain Research Foundation, the leading research center based out Gainesville, Florida that focuses on the disease and is studying ways to reach a cure.  

As part of his northeastern United States swing, Frank and Max spent part of their day Monday speaking to members of the MGA staff and educating them on the disease and the steps that have been made to help find a cure. Their stop was the 20th made since beginning their trip on October 20 and the sixth at a state golf association along the Route 95 corridor since leaving their home state of Florida.

While Frank’s specific case was first noticed following a visit to his dentist, others have reported TN following sudden impact or trauma caused to the body, that can be caused in incidents such as car accidents, for example.

The Facing Pain Research Foundation, which is made up of only volunteers, work to find the brain signature centers that cause Trigeminal Neuralgia since its inception in 2011.

After his presentation, Frank and Max brought us out to his car, where the MGA staff added an official MGA staff decal to the side of the car to help raise awareness and to show its support of a disease that many might not know about. Each stop along the way have added their own piece of memorabilia to the vehicle to garner attention as the road trip continues.  

Frank was an avid golfer and volunteer for the FSGA for five years before dedicating his time completely to this cause and his Drive Away the Pain campaign. In a completely self-funded trip, Frank is driving across the United States and visiting people and groups to help spread the word!

The MGA was grateful to welcome them to Norton and learn more about Trigeminal Neuralgia.

To follow Frank and Max’s journey, follow “Drive Away Pain” on Facebook and Twitter, and consider donating to their cause by visiting the Foundation’s website: www.facingfacialpain.org.