Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Epilepsy affects 600,000 people in the UK, and the NHS cannot deal with everyone affected. Current services are not good enough. Although I have been epileptic for six years, I myself was lucky, thanks to these wonderful people at epilepsy action, I was referred to a specialist nurse, and I have managed to hit thirteen months fit free. Not everyone is so lucky. I found Epilepsy Action at a roadshow in Southampton, and have never looked back. They have given me the chance to lead a normal life, and have always fought my corner, even when things seemed hopeless. They saw me and saw that I was someone else who needed their help, and did not hesitate to give it. 

For those of you who know me, you know my story, as you have lived it with me every step of the way. 

I'm Sam, and I'm epileptic. For the 99% of the population of the UK who are not, let me explain what this means. Well, actually, I can't. You see, it depends. For some, it means living with the fear that you'll go to sleep and never wake up. For some it means living with the fear of being found in humiliating positions on the floor. And for some it means wanting desperately just to be able to live a relatively normal life, just to be able to live without fear. I was diagnosed in late 2008, when I was 11. To me, it was the end of my life. I just couldn't see how I'd ever get past this elephant in the room, this behemoth that is epilepsy. I found that there is no reason why anyone should be anything less than all that they can be just because they're epileptic. In fact, I believe that epilepsy has made me who I am today, which is laced with irony, because I believe it shouldn't. The real problem I had was becoming 'the epileptic kid'. After a while, thats all you become, 'the epileptic kid', when in reality, nothing is further from the truth, there isn't an aerterna veritas that applies. I don't pretend to understand what people go through, because epilepsy generally treats everybody so differently, its impossible for me to do so. I'm one of the lucky ones. my record seizure free was 1 year, 1 month, 22 days, when I relapsed on March 26th (epilepsy awareness day!!) of course, these are just words, because I (nor anyone else with epilepsy) would be anywhere without the fantastic support we receive from our friends. We thank you, and I thank epilepsy action, for giving me the support to be all I can be, and do all I can do. 

So come on, let's dig deep and help end this! :D