Jenny's plight for awareness about epilepsy

That was the terrifying experience one young Halifax woman faced before being diagnosed with epilepsy.

Now Jenny Starsmore, from Pye Nest, has spoken out during National Epilepsy Week (May 15-21) to open discussion around the condition and help tackle stigma in the ‘Lets Talk about Epilepsy’ campaign.

The 22-year-old was diagnosed when she was 17, but despite the challenges epilepsy can bring, Jenny went on to study at university and sucessfully trained to be a teacher.

“I was always an anxious person and I was having what you would describe as panic attacks, which were happening a bit too often,” she said.

“But it was when I was on stage at the Victoria Theatre when it got really serious.

“I didn’t know who I was, where I was or what I was doing.”

The experience came as a wake up call for Jenny and after visiting her doctor, she was sent for tests to determine what was wrong.

She said: “I got a call from the epilepsy doctor who said ‘I’ve got really good news, you have epilepsy’. I remember thinking ‘how on earth can that be good news?’ but that was the start of my journey to becoming well.

“At first I thought it was terrible news and when I started my medication, it did get worse before it got better.”

At the time, Jenny was a student at Ryburn Valley High School, Sowerby, which she credits with being “amazing” in understanding her diagnosis.

And helping people understand is something Jenny is determined to do.

Recent figures revealed that 1 in 5 people with epilsepy feel uncomfortable talking about their condition even with friends.

Jenny added:“It’s really hard trying to explain it to people if you are having a bad day and it’s on those down days when I think ‘I wish people understood’.

“But the more you educate people, the more they understand and that’s something I am really passionate about.

“When people don’t understand an illness, we sometimes blame them, but my epilepsy is so different from other types.

“It can be scary being in a new place, and there are still those times when I think ‘why me?”

Jenny has temporal lobe epilepsy and says when she has a seizure, she will often scream, try to pull her hair and clothes and can be sick.

But it hasn’t stopped her from fulfilling her dream of becoming a teacher.

She said: “When I was first diagnosed, I was thinking ‘please tell me I’m going to be able to be a teacher’.

“The decision to go to unversity was life changing and it gave me the confidence to think that it’s not going to rule my life.”

Visit epilepsy.org.uk/epilepsyweek for more information.