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A woman who works for a family-run business in Preston is raising awareness about a condition which changed her life.
Amelia Ripley, 28, works as a legal assistant at James Hall & Co. Ltd in Preston. She suffered an epileptic seizure while at her desk in June.
After quick thinking from colleagues Amelia was taken to hospital. After tests, she was diagnosed with epilepsy in September, despite having no history of the condition in her family.
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Now beginning a phased return to work, Amelia took part in Epilepsy Action’s challenge to Jog 60 Miles in November, determined to raise awareness of the condition that has affected her future.
She said: “Epilepsy is a common condition that affects around 1 in 100 people in the UK and can develop at any time in your life.
“Yet from my experience, there seems to be a chronic lack of understanding of it and how it develops due to severe underfunding for research into it. I knew very little about it and what I did know was that I associated it with diagnosis during childhood.
“The diagnosis has completely changed my life. I am still in shock and processing it, and it is still quite raw with me. I am unable to drive until at least 12 months after my last seizure, and I now find I am sensitive to light and wear pink tinted lenses in my glasses to help.”
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Now on medication, Amelia is still adapting to her new life.
She added: “Previously I lived life to the full, with an active social life both on weekday evenings and at weekends, but that is unfortunately not possible now as I am regularly exhausted.
“I am learning to be better at planning my day, and managing my stress, the amount of sleep I get, my diet, water intake, and my alcohol consumption, all while trying to maintain exercise when I can. I am also choosier attending events where there will be big crowds.
“The hardest thing has been finding the new me. But I have had an epiphany moment where I wanted to do something good. That is why I am absolutely committed to doing the 60 Miles in November for Epilepsy Action as I feel like I need to raise awareness of epilepsy.
“I just want more people to see the word epilepsy and understand what it is. With 80 people diagnosed with epilepsy in the UK every day, I look around at people both in and out of work and think there must be a lot of people living with the condition, either knowingly or undiagnosed.”
So far, Amelia has raised £345, you can donate via her GoFundMe link here.
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