Personal stories

Hamsia is 33 and was diagnosed with epilepsy as a teen. She is from a Somali background with no family history of epilepsy. Hamsia was in denial after her diagnosis and felt too distressed to talk about how she felt with her family. But today she has come to terms with her condition. She has spoken out on national radio about living with epilepsy.

Kay was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2011 and has tonic clonic seizures. She had a seizure in the pool at her Aqua Fit class when her lifeguard, Finn, saved her life. This is her story.

Imy Gosling and Julia Gargan have been best friends since they were at primary school together. “I joined the school after everyone else and from day one, Imy looked after me – we really bonded,” recalls Julia. “We lived very close by and really grew up together.” But being close also meant that Julia witnessed the challenges that Imy faced when she developed epilepsy as a teenager.

Chloe Hambling experienced seizures in her recent pregnancy and felt anxious and concerned about her baby’s health. She is now eager to raise awareness of epilepsy and to ensure more research is undertaken to develop safer drugs for other pregnant women with the condition.

Jade Davies worries about whether her son's health problems may have been caused by her epilepsy medication, even though the drugs she was taking during pregnancy are considered to have a safer profile.

Laura Moore, 22, has been taking sodium valproate since the age of 15. The medication has enabled her to get on with her life but she knows that if she wants to start a family it will pose a serious risk to any baby during pregnancy. Here she discusses the challenges she faces and questions why she wasn’t given more treatment options when she was first diagnosed.