My colleague, Samantha, has recently written a couple of fantastic blogs (which you can read here and here) about raising awareness for epilepsy and supporting ‘World Purple Day’ on 26th March.
Epilepsy is a condition that affects the brain and possible causes include a stroke, a brain infection, a head injury and problems during birth.
I work within the Serious Injury Department here at Spencers Solicitors, and many of our clients have suffered life changing injuries, including traumatic brain injuries which can give rise to epilepsy, and part of our job is to try and help them rebuild their lives and get them the support they need.
In a split second a head trauma can dramatically change a person’s life. Recently we settled a claim for a gentleman who was involved in a road traffic accident in 2011. He was driving along a main road when another vehicle pulled out from a side road and hit him. Sounds fairly minor doesn’t it? Sadly it wasn’t. The accident has affected this man’s life and his family’s forever.
He was knocked out on impact. He had a seizure at the wheel and was told he had suffered a moderate brain injury. The effects of the brain injury became more apparent over time in that he had short term memory problems, difficulty finding words, problems with numbers, impaired concentration, sleepiness, depression; lots of the awful things associated with having a brain injury.
Two years after his accident our client was out in the garden when he suddenly experienced a tobacco like smell. He collapsed. It happened again shortly afterwards but this time he became unconscious and began convulsing. He had a total of 4 seizures before he arrived at hospital. It soon became apparent to his wife that falls he’d had since the accident, along with regularly waking up in the night and shaking were all connected and due to epileptic seizures. He was told he had developed post-traumatic epilepsy as a result of the accident and despite being on medication his condition was unlikely to ever be completely controlled.
In terms of his future he will never be able to work again, he requires a considerable amount of daily care and has ongoing treatment needs. We secured compensation for this gentleman to enable him to live a full life despite the epilepsy and to provide financial stability for him and his family for the rest if his life – something which had been taken away from him as a result of the accident.
Helping this gentleman helped me to understand so much more about epilepsy, the impact it has on that person’s everyday life and how important charities like Epilepsy Action and Headway the brain injury charity really are.
Headway was a huge support to our client and he benefited from their services so much. They gave him a sense of purpose, focus and motivation which had such a positive impact on his mood.
Another great charity is ‘Epilepsy Action’ who I know have also been a huge help. Our client used some of his funds to become a lifetime member of the charity which allows anyone with epilepsy or those caring for someone with epilepsy to get the information they need, get involved with fund raising and of course get in touch with people who understand the condition.
World Purple Day started in 2008 and I personally think it is a wonderful event to raise awareness, help people achieve a better understanding of epilepsy and at the same time raise money to help with medical research.
About the author
Laura Reaney is a litigator within Spencers Solicitors Complex Injury team. Laura has extensive experience in dealing with claimants that have complex and serious injuries, and over the years has worked on various cases including those involving back and spinal injuries.