Brian Jay Wilcox, Jr Memorial Fund

My son, Brian Jay Wilcox, Jr. , was an epilepsy patient.  He battled with seizures for 10 years.  On August 15th, I went to wake him for dinner and medicine.  As I walked into the room, his face was buried deeply in his pillow.  I knew- I rushed to him and snatched the pillow away. I screamed for him to wake up over and over and over again.  Please just wake up.  It was too late.  I knew it was too late.  My son was lifeless. He was extremely cold and stiff.  I threw back the covers and his hands were clinched- his right hand was blue.  My son died alone and gasping for air.  He had a seizure and suffocated face down in his pillow.  The night that he died, apparently there was a special on anti-suffocation pillows for epilepsy patients.   Why had no-one in the medical community ever told us this?  Not one doctor, not one nurse, not one social worker.   I am flying my son home to Tennessee to bury him beside my grandmother.   That is a sentence that I never expected to write.   My son's oldest child just graduated high school and will start college at the end of August.  We will bury my son the day after his youngest child's birthday.   Funds will be used for expenses, the support of his children and to buy anti-seizure pillows for other epilepsy patients in my state who may not know that they exist- as we did not know. 

My son should be here ...the horror is in the irony that a pillow took his life when a pillow could have saved his life.