My son Leo has Epilepsy. He had his first seizure in August last year completely out of the blue. He was rushed to hospital, assessed and sent home with his very grateful and scared parents. We hoped it was a one off. It wasn’t. 

Since that day he has been rushed to hospital in an ambulance twice. He has undergone ecgs, EEGs, an MRI, a lumbar puncture, a CT scan and multiple blood tests. He takes it all in his stride. He experiences different types of seizures, sometimes upto 10 times a day, some in his sleep. He takes 3 different anti epilepsy drugs twice a day, without fuss. His bravery and resilience makes my heart burst. 

It has been the scariest and most exhausting time of our lives and we are still waiting for a specific diagnosis. Epilepsy is complex and has many syndromes that can take time to diagnose but we have to remain hopeful that it’s something he can overcome. Despite all of this he remains a joyful, funny, loving, outspoken and very stubborn 4 year old. We are so lucky to have him.

I'm fundraising for Epilepsy Action this National Epilepsy Week to help make sure people with epilepsy continue to get the support they need. Their services have been invaluable throughout our journey, providing important information about first aid, seizure types, the diagnosis process, videos on how to talk to your children about epilepsy and medication. The list is endless. 

I’m going to clock 50kms in runs throughout the week. They say experiencing a 3 minute tonic clonic seizure is the equivalent of running a marathon so the least I can do is attempt to run one over the week! If you have a spare fiver then please consider donating it to this organisation so they can continue their great work in supporting people like Leo, and us.