Personal Stories

Hear from the people affected by epilepsy...

	Stop the Eruption Hi, my name is John Olson. I am 22 years old and have been living with epilepsy since I was 4 years old. I try not to let the disorder get me down or prevent me from doing the things in life that I enjoy. Read more >
	The Ultimate Race In order to show endurance, strength and stamina, and maybe to prove something to themselves or others, people willingly compete in a variety of athletic challenges, such as marathons. Read more >
	Eoin's Story Sometimes it seems like epilepsy boils down to counting. You count seizures. You count the number of interminable minutes each seizure lasts. You count the days between seizures. Read more >
	Mark's Story For most 8 year old boys, giggling is an expression of joy! For our son, Mark, episodes of uncontrollable laughter are a rare type of seizure. As a toddler, Mark was quick to smile and laughed often. He seemed happy, but my husband, Craig, and I had a feeling something was amiss. Read more >
	Valda's Story It’s so hard. I don’t know where to begin. I was 29 when I had my first seizure. Five years out of law school, I was on the “fast track” as an associate at a major Chicago law firm. Read more >
	Andrew's Story No one told us... Nothing prepares one for opening the bedroom door and finding their most beloved treasure gone. Nothing. Our only child’s life essence gone. Nothing. Our only child’s life essence gone. Read more >
	Calvin's Story The first time I laid eyes on my son Calvin he was twenty-one hours old. He was sleeping in his isolette in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). His cherub face glowed round and flat like the moon atop his perfect little alabaster body. He had been born six weeks prematurely. Read more >
	Katy's Story It is difficult for me to know how to begin writing this. So many stories about epilepsy are so heart wrenching that I feel a twinge of guilt telling my story. I am knocking on wood with one hand while I type this sentence: I do not have a child with epilepsy. Rather, I am the subject of this story. Read more >
	Linnea's Story I was diagnosed with epilepsy in 1999, halfway through my sophomore year of college. I was studying for final exams and writing papers to wrap up the semester. During this time, I had only a few hours of sleep over a three-day period. I finally decided to lie down for a nap. Read more >
	Hope My heart breaks, again, As a piece of glass shatters, fragments scatter, Never to be put back together the same way, So it is with my heart. Read more >
	Ian's Story Ian was precocious; there were no two ways around it. I tried to hide my pride, but as a professor myself, I loved having such a talented little boy. I only wished he’d calm down a bit. Read more >
	A Daughter's Story My introduction to epilepsy didn’t come from a fall on the bathroom floor, or an inability to move or speak. It began with one terrifying phone call. Read more >
	Pat's Story I met my husband Pat on a rugby pitch at Radford University in 1993. He was athletic, confident, and always willing to lend a hand. When he graduated, he enlisted in the Army, out of love for his country and a desire to remain active. Read more >
	Gianna's Story On February 25, 2002 our little five-pound miracle Gianna Cecelia was born. Arriving four weeks early and the lone survivor of triplets, our beautiful angel brought us the true happiness that every parent prays for. Read more >
	Amanda's Story The thing I remember most about Amanda’s epilepsy diagnosis is stepping outside the hospital doors one blue-skied summer day, looking up at the clouds, and saying “Thank you, God” for only being epilepsy. Read more >
	Stacy's Story For the rest of our lives, we will never forget February 2, 1999. It’s a day that forever changed our lives. While getting ready for work that morning, we heard Stacy cry out. We went to her crib and found her limp and moaning. Read more >
	Gen's Story If you are reading this, it is probably because someone you love suffers from seizures. I am writing this because on June 22, 2007, I lost my beautiful nineteen-year-old daughter Generose as the result of a seizure. Read more >
	Charlie's Story For me, the hardest part of Charlie’s seizures was seeing his eyes. You don’t hear much about the eyes. One minute they were bright, smiley, clear. A split second later, they were dull, unfocused . . . dead. Read more >
	Adam's Story As Adam napped peacefully after a trip to the doctor for a low fever, I went for a run, unaware of how our lives were about to change. When I returned, I heard my husband’s frantic voice say to the dispatcher, “Ok, he’s breathing now.” That was Adam’s first seizure. Read more >
	Susan's Story The morning after my only child Matthew was born, I had a stroke. To save my life, doctors performed emergency brain surgery. I thought my stroke was horrific. However, nothing could have prepared me for the horror I would experience next. Read more >
	Elizabeth's Story I awoke feeling so proud on Elizabeth's 16th birthday. Despite being born severely disabled from CMV, a virus I caught when I was pregnant with her, she had made it to her Sweet 16—surviving many life-threatening battles along the way. Read more >
	Evan's Story At 15 months, our son Evan was a typical child. He was happy, and seemed to be developing just like his twin brother, Henry. Suddenly, that all changed. Read more >
	Michael's Story Before the age of two, Michael was developing normally. He was a happy, healthy toddler who was meeting and exceeding all developmental milestones. However, on February 4, 1996, when he was 22 months old, we entered the worlds of epilepsy and special needs. Read more >
	Rebecca's Story The other night at dinner, our 10-year-old daughter, Rebecca, had what we think was her 10,000th epileptic seizure. It was a split-second drop seizure, which sucked the air out of her body and sent her head crashing face first into her plate of pasta... Read more >
	Lauren's Story Far away from here, in another part of the country, lives a beautiful young lady who lights up a room with her smile and personality, despite the impact epilepsy’s had on her life over the past 25 years... Read more >
	Julie's Story Julie has had seizures at the Milwaukee Zoo. She’s had seizures at Disney World. She’s had seizures while we were driving at 65 mph down the Edens Expressway in Chicago. She had a seizure during her brother’s Bar Mitzvah, and at more Passover dinners than I care to remember. Read more >
	Chris' Story Our son, Chris, was a senior in college, ten weeks shy of graduation. He was on the Dean’s List. His passion was baseball. Always there for his friends and family, Chris was generous and thoughtful. But, beneath his upbeat demeanor, Chris struggled each and every day of his life with the impacts of epilepsy. Read more >
	A Mother's Search for a Cure According to my records, I’ve witnessed 18,737 seizures—a remarkable number even for a medical professional. But I’m not a doctor. I’m a mom. I remember the first seizure vividly. I awoke to the sound of choking coming from the room of my two-year-old daughter, Savannah. Read More >
	Click here to listen to those with epilepsy and their families talk about how they have been impacted.