I'm running in the 2022 TCS London Marathon as part of Epilepsy Society's Team Purple!

A little about me:

I am a band 6 midwife working in the NHS at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton. I was finally diagnosed with Epilepsy in August 2019 after 3 major tonic-clonic seizures resulted in me ending up in A&E resus at Walsall Manor Hospital. I had spent over 20 years having complex partial seizures that were dangerously dismissed by healthcare professionals. My life has been turned upside down since diagnosis in many ways. I have lost my driving license and a lot of my independence, I have to deal with the crippling side effects of the medications that I am on to try and control the seizures and constantly live in fear of when and where the next seizure might happen. The mental health impact all this has had on me alongside working full time during a global pandemic has tested me to my limits, but I'm still standing. Unfortunately my seizures are still not under control, having had over 35 in the past year alone. 

The epilepsy society have provided me and thousands of others with vital physical and emotional support from information regarding access to work rights, prescription exemptions, community forum support, telephone lifelines when in crisis and vital research to improve lives, to name a few. On a personal level, this support has allowed me to remain in work full time which has been vital for my maternity unit, despite the challenges I have faced. And I know thousands of others have received the same incredible support. Remaining in work has allowed me to retain some form of normality and familiarity and having spoken to many others who have had support from The Epilepsy Society, remaining in work has been a mental life saver for them too. 

As you can see, The Epilepsy Society is a charity very close to my heart and many others. Day in, day out they provide essential support to thousands and thousands of people like myself and running the London Marathon is just a small way I can give back and allow them to continue supporting others that find themselves in the same situation as myself. 

I will be extremely grateful for any support/donations people are able to give 

Thank you, Lucy x