Lives Shaken by Seizure Disorders

By: Sean Patrick Taylor, Executive Director
The Epilepsy Foundation of Kansas and Western Missouri

The cold, January wind in Missouri sent shivers to everyone who walked out in it. Inside the warm two-story Gourley family home, a different type of “shivers” were occurring. Twelve-year-old Fred Gourley was going into seizures on top of a floor furnace grate outside of his second floor bedroom. Hearing the banging his arms and legs were making, his mother rushed upstairs and discovered her son convulsing. Marks from the furnace grate were already beginning to burn into his arms.

Hours later, lying in a strange hospital bed and after going through several seizures, Fred awoke to a familiar voice. He looked up and saw his minister’s hand on his forehead. The minister was praying loudly for the demons to come out of Fred’s body and leave him. Terrified that he was possessed, Fred began weeping.

Last month Chief Justice John Roberts fell as the result of a seizure. It was the second seizure he had suffered in his life. Stories like Fred’s and Chief Justice Roberts are all too common and brings attention to Epilepsy and Seizure Disorders. However, ignorance about the disorder still persists.

One of the most misunderstood ailments to affect individuals, seizures can be caused by a number of things from head injuries to trauma. However, 70% of people with seizures never know exactly what caused them to happen. There are over 25,000 people living with seizures in the Kansas City area. Nine thousand of those are children. Children and senior citizens account for the majority of new seizure diagnoses throughout the country.

Watching someone have a seizure can be terrifying, and the helplessness which follows is alarming to those around them.

“If you come across someone having a seizure, the best thing to do is keep calm, remove any objects which could cause injury, turn them on their side and protect their head by placing something soft underneath it,” said Carol Vaughn, Director of Education for the Epilepsy Foundation of Kansas and Western Missouri. “Time the seizure and if it lasts more than five minutes, you should call an ambulance.”

Many people are able to control seizures with medication or other treatments. However, medicine can’t treat the stigma and isolation that many people feel after having seizures. Children are especially susceptible to the taunts of classmates and misunderstanding which abound about seizure disorders.

The Epilepsy Foundation is the only comprehensive program to offer assistance to people living with seizures in our area. They offer support, referrals, case management, medication assistance and education throughout Kansas and Western Missouri. If you would like more information, please contact the Epilepsy Foundation at 816-444-2800.

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