Epilepsy testimonials

The people featured in this section have learned to live with epilepsy and hope to help others by sharing their experiences.

Beátriz

Beátriz spent much of her youth and early adult years isolated in a world of fear and anxiety because of an illness that she knew nothing about: epilepsy.  She was 8 years old when she had her first atonic seizure, but it took years of seizures, misdiagnoses and misinformation before Beátriz received a correct diagnosis.
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Lloyd

In 1986, Lloyd was involved in an automobile accident, hitting a traffic roundabout.  Though he escaped with his life, he did suffer a mild head injury.  He seemed to fully recover at first, but within a month, his wife noticed that he seemed increasingly distant during their conversations.
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Rachel Walz

Sometimes, perspective changes everything. Consider the day Michele Walz and her husband proudly presented their daughter Rachel, then three and a half, with her first bike - a red tricycle. "Rachel thought it was so cool, but when she sat on it, she just couldn't make it move," says Walz, from New Jersey.
Read more about Michele's family experiences with epilepsy

Taylor Huey and Chelsea, his Canine Assistant

The dog in the photograph is Chelsea, owned by Taylor Huey. Taylor was 15 years old when he was diagnosed with epilepsy. Since then, he and his family have seen some difficult times including the arrival of Hurricane Katrina which wiped out the family business. But two months later Chelsea was given to Taylor, completely transforming his and his family's life, and giving him the much-needed emotional support that saw him through two brain surgeries last year. During this time, staff at LSU Medical Center, Louisiana, allowed Chelsea onto the ward and the dog never left Taylor's bedside.
Read more about the Canine Assistants in the patient programmes section