Hello, I am Brian Rutherford, a journalist for ‘NewsFour’ and I suffer from epilepsy. Epilepsy occurs in about 40,000 people in Ireland and is caused by damage to the brain in one way or another. Causes include head injuries, strokes, brain infections , meningitis, encephalitis and birth defects. I don’t know which of these caused my particular form of epilepsy but I have only had seizures at night while sleeping.

The seizures started about two and a half years ago while I lived in Dun Laoghaire. I have had about three seizures in all, my second lasting for several hours. I was unconscious in St Vincent’s hospital for the duration of this and had to be given a drip of fluids until I regained consciousness.

Seizures are a very frightening experience and can lead to loss of blood from the tongue being chewed. I myself damaged my back after I fell during my first seizure. The results of the seizures is that I have a well-chewed tongue, pieces are missing along each side of it. I was prescribed medication which I take each night and now sleep soundly. The thoughts of never having a normal night’s sleep are a bit depressing.

I can only say that I am lucky that the epilepsy developed so late in life or I could have grown up without a normal youth. I will be 37 in three months and am old enough to know that I can control things for life’s duration.

Epilepsy has a lot of stigma attached to it because the illness makes a person feel isolated in some way. People can come down hard on the person and not know what the real picture is, especially in today’s society.

These people are not worth talking about and should know better anyway. I know when I was younger I had heard that a person had epilepsy and I immediately felt sympathetic towards them. I cannot understand why people don’t think the same and feel this way too.

If you see a person having an epileptic fit, simply turn them on their side and make sure the tongue is not being swallowed or bitten and ring for help from the ambulance service. There is a chronic shortage of epilepsy specialists in Ireland so do what you can to help.

For more information on epilepsy phone 01 4557500 or visit the website at: www.epilepsy.ie