Massive thankyou to everybody who has sponsored me so far for Sundays triathlon. It's very much appreciated and every penny counts. 63 % of target hit so far. Please Please dig deep and help me achieve the £1000 raised for Epilepsy Research UK.

Updated on Aug 4th 2011 at 11:55 AM from the JustGiving API

Great start guys. Thank you so much to those who have donated so far

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Reason for doing this

I'm taking part in the Erewash beginners triathlon on August the 14th, 2011. Initially, this was to prove to myself that I was fully over a heart scare that I had earlier in the year, but I've decided to make something more out of it as I already know that my heart is fine after the training for the race and also playing for my Sunday league football team.

As a result, I've decided that I'd like to do something to help the people who are trying to find ways of making my nephew, Tom's life a bit easier.

Tom

Tom has severe epilepsy and has to deal with this every day of his life.

There are many different kinds of seizures or 'fits' that can happen to somebody with epilepsy. Tom has experienced all of these from time to time, but by far the most common that he has are 'drop fits', which can result in him falling and banging his head on the floor, walls, tables or worse. I actually took him along with Andy, his father and my brother to the hospital on Christmas day 2010 after he had a drop fit onto the corner of a coffee table that opened up his chin, which needed stitching.

As a result of these drop fits, Tom has to wear a rugby style crash helmet to protect him in case of such falls.

VNS

Tom has also had what's called a VNS device implanted into his chest to help to control this condition. The pulse generator is implanted under the skin of the left chest using a small incision. The pulse generator is placed inside a pocket under the skin that the surgeon creates for it. Another incision is made in the lowest part of the neck on the left side. The leads are attached to the pulse generator and then a tool is used to tunnel the leads under the skin up to the vagus nerve in the neck, where they are attached to the nerve.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation, or VNS, involves the use of an implanted device to provide periodic stimulation to the vagus nerve. The device was originally developed as a treatment for epilepsy.

How Does It Work?

A pulse generator, which is a device similar to a pacemaker, is surgically implanted under the skin of the left chest. An electrical lead (wire) connects the device to the left vagus nerve. The device generates a periodic electrical impulse (30 seconds on, five minutes off) which is sent through the electrical lead to the vagus nerve. The aim of this is to stablize the electrical activity in Toms brain and decrease the risk of a seizure occuring.

Epilepsy Research is constantly looking into new ways to help make life easier for people like Tom.

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So please dig deep and donate now.