I was 14 when I was diagnosed with epilepsy. We had been on a family holiday in Wales and it was the last night before we got the boat home early the next morning. I was put to bed, and all of a sudden my parents heard a big thud in the middle of the night.
They came running in and I was on the ground, fitting. At that time my parents didn’t have a clue about epilepsy, or whether I had epilepsy.
I was rushed to hospital and, as far as I am aware, I had a second seizure there. Then I had a brain scan and the doctors noticed I had a cyst growing on the left side of my brain where my cerebral palsy had caused some brain damage. The cyst had grown where the brain cells had died.
I was diagnosed with epilepsy. It is not typical epilepsy: tiredness and lack of sleep seem to be the triggers for me. I have fits only during my sleep, not during the day. It is a bit more risky.
I have spent a lot of years worrying about epilepsy and [worrying about] going to sleep and never knowing whether I am going to have a fit or going to wake up. I have heard very bad stories of people I know, and their sons or friends who have died having fits, so it is not a nice disability to have.
Free from seizures
Realistically, having cerebral palsy doesn’t affect me; I don’t allow it to affect me. I don’t allow epilepsy to affect me either, but it is one of those things. I am probably more aware of my epilepsy because it hinders my life slightly more.
I have been free of seizures for three and a half years now; with luck, with the medication I will be seizure-free for the rest of my life.
Nobody knows when a seizure is going to happen – only the man up above knows when it is going to happen – so I guess you have to live your life the way you want to live it rather than allowing your life to be [governed] by epilepsy.
Being an elite and full-time athlete I have to train really, really hard, and that is what I do, day in and day out.
My training has to be slightly tailored and my dad, who is also my coach, would notice if I don’t look right.
He would notice small triggers, but the key thing I need to keep on top of is getting enough sleep, taking my medication and being sensible.
When I was growing up, my friends were drinking alcohol, and I couldn’t and still don’t because I am on medication, so I didn’t socialise the way my friends do.
But my friends understood it and they respected it and made sure I was still involved.
I would recommend to teenagers with epilepsy that they realise where their boundaries are and know whether they are overstepping them. I think they have to be a little more mature than the normal teenager has to be because they have to be aware that something can happen.
I would also say to make your friends aware of your disability; don’t hide that you have epilepsy.
I knew better
When I was a teenager, I thought I knew better than my parents and I asked to go to a sleepover. My parents were saying, “That is not really a very good idea because you are probably not going to get much sleep,” and I still remember going to the sleepover, saying “I will be fine.” I got two or three hours’ sleep, came home the next day and ended up having an epileptic fit.
That really made me realise that epilepsy is a dangerous thing to have and you have to be aware of it and respect it; and if you respect it, it will respect you. It is nothing to be ashamed of.
My parents, Paddy and Catherine, were both athletes and my dad represented Ireland, so I was brought up in a sporting family with my older sisters, Sarah (26), Claire (28) and Ciara (18).
I fell in love with running and then realised I had a talent for it. When I was 15 I competed in my first Paralympics and won my first world title at the age of 16. I went to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and won gold as a 19-year-old.
I went on to win multiple world titles and European titles and, in 2012, at the Paralympic games I went on to win two gold medals and break a world record.
People don’t really get that the Paralympic athletes are training as hard as or harder than some of the able-bodied athletes who go to compete in the Olympic stadium. I was there on the same track and same venue competing in front of 80,000 people – just like Usain Bolt did.
But you don’t hear of the Paralympic athletes; I would like to think that by the time of [the 2016 Olympics in] Rio, a lot more people will be aware of it.
The way I look at it is that it is about the ability, not the disability. It is the same with the epilepsy; it doesn’t matter, because you can get on with your life, and do whatever you want. Don’t allow the epilepsy to be an excuse.
In conversation with