Epilepsy - Often misunderstood and how to help somone in a seizure

I remember when I was in primary school, I had a classmate who had epilepsy. I didn't know it was epilepsy then. I only recognise it for what it was after reading up about it as an adult.

My classmate was and indian girl who came from a poor family. I think she had photosensitive epilepsy. She would have her seizures quite often when we had physical exercises at the field. She would look up at the sun, flit her fingers over her eyes to cover them and then fall onto the ground in a fit. Seeing someone in a seizure can be quite a scary experience. The teachers would try to restrain her with great difficulty and often they would try to pry her mouth open by sticking a metal spoon into her mouth (which were the wrong things to do as it could cause her more injury and harm that way!) She would then foam at the mouth and looked very tired after the seizure.

What was so sad about it was the fact that no one ever explained to us that she had epilepsy. None of the teachers nor the principal explained it to us. Looking at how they handled her seizures, it looked to me like they didn't even know it for what it was. So, they just let the other kids pass rumours about her being possessed and other cruel things. And the girl who came from a poor family probably never received proper treatment for it. I feel so sorry for her.

I hope that this never ever happens to another child in this day. I hope that our educators would be better informed. I hope that there would be a system to explain to the other school children should one of their friends have epilepsy and I hope that they receive explanation on how to help someone who is having a seizure.

Related links:

While searching for info on how to help someone who is having a seizure, I found Stacey Chillemi and wish to include her link here. I think she has written many interesting articles on the subject of epilepsy from an interesting angle or point of view ie that of a woman and mother.

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