Greetings and welcome to my page. My name is Shannon Latko. I am 56 years old and a mother of 5 children (2 in college, 1 in the military, and 2 in high school) and 3 fur babies all who have given the world to me during this time of life crisis. My story begins back on May 28th, 2024, when I woke up in the hospital, suffered a grand mal seizure, and was diagnosed with epilepsy. My world was turned upside down. Epilepsy does not run in my immediate family, so this was a shocking discovery. I was so stressed out and not prepared for an emergency such as this. Due to the diagnosis, I was placed on a 6-month driving restriction by my doctor. This caused a lot of problems for me since both my job does require driving. I had to leave/let go of my sales job and I was denied reasonable accommodation at my other job. I would not be able to return to work until all restrictions were lifted.

I exhausted all my savings and depleted my 401K for us to survive. Luckily, I was able to return to work in December of 2024 with hope that I would be able to bring in a paycheck and begin to pay down medical bills. In the short nine months, I was able to pay down my bills.

Unfortunately, I suffered another grand mal seizure in my sleep this year on September 29th, 2025, and managed to bite my tongue in half. Epilepsy is a silent disability and unfortunately for me, I do not have triggers, signs, or symptoms when they occur. I suffered both seizures in my sleep and have been lucky that my children have been able to rush me to the hospital since I am at high risk for SUDEP. Today, I am on another medical 6-month driving restriction, but I cannot return to my job and thus placing me back into financial turmoil.

My family and I have taken the steps to further educate ourselves about epilepsy. I have been able to seek out a new doctor that has prescribed an anti-seizure medication in case this happens again and that I do not fall as a fatal statistic to SUDEP.

I am reaching out to you to ask for your generosity during this time of transition in my life to get me back on my feet and any donation would be greatly appreciated. Asking for help is not an easy thing to do. It has challenged me emotionally, mentally, and physically, but I am grateful and I am learning to accept these challenges. I know I cannot do this alone at this time. Thank you.