Gilberdyke Teenager Calls For Greater Understanding Of Epilepsy
Jack Copley will appear on TV series Great Ormond Street tonight as he faces the difficult decision of whether to undergo major surgery to help control his epilepsy.
A teenager from Gilberdyke who suffers with epilepsy says he hopes sharing his story will help more people understand the condition.
17-year-old Jack Copley is set to appear on TV series Great Ormond Street tonight.
He spent a week at the world-renowned hospital as he faced the tough decision of whether to undergo major brain surgery to help reduce his seizures.
The procedure, called hemispherotomy, includes disconnecting one side of the brain from the other in a bid to help reduce or even stop his epileptic fits.
Jack says some seizures mean he can be unconscious for a number of hours and thinks more people need to be aware of how to respond to it. He told Viking FM:
“It was tough making a decision about surgery but I’m hoping by sharing my story on TV I will help raise awareness of epilepsy.
"Unless you've been told about epilepsy, you wouldn't have a clue what was going on or what to do in any way. I think some people freak out because they haven't a clue what to do but when they've been told how to deal with it, they're okay.
"Families and people with epilepsy know how to deal with it because they have been told how to deal with it but people who haven't come across it before, they need to be a bit aware of it just so that if they do come across something like that then they know what to do.
"If I have a big seizure it knocks me out for a day. I've just got to be careful as to what I do. They don't know exactly what causes my seizures but we think it's to do with dehydration and over heating so I've just got to be careful about how much exercise I do and how hot it is and things like that."