A Legal Assistant from Lancashire wants to raise awareness of the condition that has changed her life during National Epilepsy Awareness Month.
Amelia Ripley, 28, who lives in Barrowford and works for James Hall & Co. Ltd in Preston, suffered an epileptic seizure while at her desk in June.
As quick-thinking colleagues in the Properties department rushed to her aid to put her in the recovery position and the company’s medical team stabilised her while the paramedics arrived, nobody knew at that point what the issue was and the impact it would have on Amelia’s life going forward.
Amelia has since undergone scans and neurological tests and was diagnosed as having epilepsy in September. She had not previously experienced a seizure, has no history of epilepsy in her family, and she did not know the signs and symptoms of the condition.
Now adapting to life on medication and beginning a phased return to work, Amelia is partaking in Epilepsy Action’s challenge to Jog 60 Miles in November, determined to raise awareness of the condition that has profoundly affected her future.
Amelia said: “Epilepsy is a common condition that affects around 1 in 100 people in the UK and can develop at any time in your life.
“Yet from my experience, there seems to be a chronic lack of understanding of it and how it develops due to severe underfunding for research into it. I knew very little about it and what I did know was that I associated it with diagnosis during childhood.
“The diagnosis has completely changed my life. I am still in shock and processing it, and it is still quite raw with me. I am unable to drive until at least 12 months after my last seizure, and I now find I am sensitive to light and wear pink tinted lenses in my glasses to help.
“I am on medication, and I am adjusting to this new life, along with the side effects. I have tremors now, so I must be extra careful while using a kettle to make a brew for example. It is not guaranteed the medication will address the problem of having seizures. It is a bit like a game of chess whether it works for you.
“Previously I lived life to the full, with an active social life both on weekday evenings and at weekends, but that is unfortunately not possible now as I am regularly exhausted.
“I am learning to be better at planning my day, and managing my stress, the amount of sleep I get, my diet, water intake, and my alcohol consumption, all while trying to maintain exercise when I can. I am also choosier attending events where there will be big crowds.
“The hardest thing has been finding the new me. But I have had an epiphany moment where I wanted to do something good. That is why I am absolutely committed to doing the 60 Miles in November for Epilepsy Action as I feel like I need to raise awareness of epilepsy.”
Looking back at the day, and knowing now what she does about epilepsy, Amelia believes she can trace her symptoms back three or four years, with one occasion in the days leading up to her first seizure being particularly significant.
Amelia said: “My memories of that day in June are that it was a normal working day, but I remember being very emotional over topics that do not normally generate such emotion, like VAT of all things! I remember bursting into tears when talking about it in a meeting.
“Later on in the day, and seconds before I blacked out, I had a huge aura that was like a rush of sickness and dread that came up from my feet, through my body and head. After that, I have no memory of what happened, but I have since been told I let out a last gasp as the air was pushed out my lungs as the muscles contracted. I don’t think my colleagues will forget that moment.
“I am just grateful that it happened in an office full of work colleagues, and not while I was driving as it could have been a lot worse. My employer has been really accommodating throughout and my colleagues have been hugely supportive. They have made the last few months much easier to cope with.
“I think there probably were signs a few years before, but I would put them down to clumsiness or tiredness. Then about 10 days before my seizure, I had a day where I could not grip a cup of tea, and I could not hold my mobile phone, and was struggling with a knife and fork while eating.
“Prior to my seizure in June, I was having 1:1 coaching with the Learning and Development Team’s Coach. Going back into work, I think my Coach has neatly summed up the huge change that has happened in my life. She said, ‘I think it is probably best that we start these afresh as the person sat opposite me now is not the same person who began coaching’.
“I just want more people to see the word epilepsy and understand what it is. With 80 people diagnosed with epilepsy in the UK every day, I look around at people both in and out of work and think there must be lot of people living with the condition, either knowingly or undiagnosed.”
For more information on epilepsy, visit the Epilepsy Action website. Amelia is also fundraising for Epilepsy Action on the link here.
For more information about James Hall & Co. Ltd, please visit www.jameshall.co.uk.
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