Making the Invisible Visible Epilepsy Ireland

When you have an invisible illness, it’s hard to explain it to somebody who doesn’t have a clue when you look fine on the outside.

My epilepsy story started December 6th 2010. Overnight I went from a healthy 20 year old to a young man with a brain infection (encephalitis) and epileptic. Realising quickly it was easier to be angry than vulnerable, I ended up pushing everyone away from me and slowly growing introverted. It took years for me to deal with the changes epilepsy caused to my daily life, social life, career and confidence. Sport made me realise the way you perceive the world drives the way you perform in it.

So I set myself a challenge. In 2013, I finished the Loughrea sprint triathlon. The mild panic attack in the swim because of a fear of open water was a memory I will never forget.

10 years and '4 grand mal' seizures later, I decided on a new challenge to mark the 10 years diagnosis. I entered the Ironman in Ireland in August 2020, but due to Covid-19 it is now taking place in August 2022. In the process, I will be fund raising money to assist Epilepsy Ireland with their invaluable work.

Over the last 10 years, my confidence ebs and flows, it’s dynamic. John Wooden says ‘never let the things you cannot do prevent you from doing the things you can’. Epilepsy is unique. It is individual to each and every person. Each person has to take ownership of it. The side effects of medication are often overlooked but very real.

The events of our past are fixed, the meaning of our past is not. My love/hate relationship with epilepsy has changed me but it has also shaped me and made me who I am today.

Living with epilepsy is not a gift, it’s hard and frustrating but I have achieved more since being diagnosed than I would have if I never contracted it. My journey has been a challenge more mentally than physically. I have had dreams, I have had nightmares, but I have had conquered my nightmares because of my dreams. The key for me was learning to accept it and embrace it. The adventure is only beginning.

Please support Epilepsy Ireland.

Time to make the invisible visible!

Seán