Personal stories

Anna has undergone 27 years of different medications and brain surgery to try to control her epilepsy. She has often felt that the trial and error of different medication changes has led her down dead ends . But now she feels that a diagnosis through sequencing her DNA is offering her, and her future children, real hope of better, more focussed treatments.

Taking daily exercise while on lockdown can pose extra challenges for anyone with uncontrolled seizures, as Lorraine found out.

Emma Griffith explains how being supported by the Epilepsy Society's Chalfont Centre for a decade has helped her to turn her life around and encouraged her to share her story.

Sophie Harries, 22, is a dietitian from Somerset. She was diagnosed with photosensitive epilepsy at the age of 15. She explains how it affects her life.

Matthew Robertson is a seven-time National Champion and ex-World Record Holder paracyclist and is part of the Great Britain Paracycling Squad. As he prepares for the eventual Tokyo Paralympics, he wants to raise awareness of the impact having epilepsy can have on being a professional athlete.

Like many people, Shirley and Neil Adderley have been catching up with rescheduled gigs booked since before the pandemic. But every concert brings back heart-breaking memories of their daughter Fay who should have been attending with them. Here the couple explain how each concert is an emotional rollercoaster.