Meet Sumeyya, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy contributors.

Sumeyya has been living with epilepsy for over 7 years and it affects her day to day life. She believes raising awareness for epilepsy is crucial because it will allow people living with it to feel less secluded. Although there are medications that help control seizures, the side effects are also difficult to deal with which is why Sumeyya thinks finding a cure for epilepsy is so important.

Meet Jade, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy contributors.

Jade is 31 years old and was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 9. She experienced nocturnal seizures from that age up until she was 20 and has been able to manage my seizures with medication.

Growing up, Jade had never met anyone else with epilepsy. She never felt comfortable speaking about it, sharing it, and felt that no one truly understood what she was going through. It wasn't until she was in her late 20's that she decided epilepsy didn't need to be lonely anymore and that speaking about it would make her a stronger person.

Since opening up about her condition, many positive things have happened. For the first time in her life, she has connected with other people who have epilepsy. There is such a power in that for her.

Tiana was a happy, healthy kid who played sports and did well in school. She never had any health issues, so she was surprised when in grade 11 she had her first seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy.

As her peers started finding out about her diagnosis she faced stigma and isolation. But her family and close friends remained supportive.

Now she sees her diagnosis as an opportunity and wants to try to break the stigma she faced and help educate the people around her. As well as building a community with others who shared similar experiences living with epilepsy.

Arya Mae Kennedy was born with Ohtahara Syndrome, and tragically lost her life to this terrible diagnosis.

Arya’s parents, Jessica & Aaron are telling their daughter’s story in honour of her, but also to bring awareness and support other families who are dealing with this tragic disease.

Meet Bhaavna, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy.

Bhaavna was diagnosed with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy at the age of 19. Without her knowledge, she had been living with the condition for four years before receiving a diagnosis. Her life has been significantly affected, from the medications to the social settings. She feels she is no longer the person she used to be.

Bhaavna has decided to take her diagnosis and turn it into something positive, focusing on bringing awareness to epilepsy to fellow young people on her McMaster University campus in Hamilton Ontario. She has organized a walk to fundraise for research to find a cure.

Meet Michelle, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. This is her story about her 41 year long journey with epilepsy.

Diagnosed when she was 9, she felt alone and confused. The medical team told he family she would not live a “normal” and productive life. Her parents refused to believe that, and luckily so did she.

Michelle graduated with honours and scholarships in High School, obtained her undergraduate degree from University College of Cape Breton and was even Valedictorian of her class. Later her Master’s Degree in Education. She always felt like she had something to prove.

She became a wife and mother, started her own successful business, a tutoring company working with students with Learning Disabilities. The great irony being that her career was working with and advocating on behalf of students with Learning Disabilities, while she however, did not disclose to most people that she was an individual with her own hidden disability.

It took years before she finally began to tell her story. But she found her voice – and is now an advocate, raising awareness and talking about why fighting for a cure is so important.

Meet Garrett, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. Garrett is almost 9 now and was just 3 years old when he had his first seizure. He quickly began having multiple daily seizures and multiple types of seizures and the first several medications we tried only seemed to make everything worse.

Garrett’s doctors have never found an explanation for Garrett's progressive and debilitating Epilepsy but that has never let it keep him down for long. Life has been anything but ordinary for this little boy but he keeps on getting back up and facing each day with grit and determination.

Meet Sadie, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. After a childhood of various diagnosis, hospital visits, multiple brain surgeries and medications Sadie is now 18 years old, graduating high school and going into University of Calgary for a bachelor in Community Rehabilitation and Disabilities. Her hope is to become an occupational therapist for people who have disabilities like her.

An incredible thing for such a young person to do – commit her life to giving back, finding gratitude and joy amongst feelings of fear, anger, pain.

Meet Chris, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. In 2001, his life changed drastically, when he had his first grand mal seizure on a trip to the casino with friends. The next few years were spend attending different hospital and doctors’ offices around Ontario trying to find the right medication for his seizures. Eventually he was stabilized on two different medications at high dosages, but with terrible side effects.

2018 was a turning point when Chris was referred to an epileptologist after years of trial and error with different anti-seizure medications and neurologists. He was admitted to The Epilepsy Monitoring Unit inpatient unit that monitors seizures. His wife called it seizure camp. This admission changed his life. He was safely started on a new medication, with barely any side effects.

Chris believes he is the beneficiary of new and great research. The past few years have been the best thanks to new medication. He has a changed attitude and outlook on life.

Meet Kate, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. Her journey with epilepsy began in 2010, when she mistook her first seizures as “anxiety attacks”. She was embarrassed and blamed herself. Out of shame, she didn’t tell anyone what she was experiencing. After experiencing another seizure at work, she was eventually referred to a neurologist and an MRI confirmed that there was a cluster of damaged cells in her temporal lobe. What she was experiencing wasn’t anxiety, but focal seizures.

Meet Jamie, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. Diagnosed with MS when she was 25, which unfortunately developed in to epilepsy as well, after the birth of her Daughter in 2015. Jamie talks about the very real struggles of raising a child while living with epilepsy and about finding positivity in hard situations. She talks about the strength her daughter gives her - and how she want to keep fighting for her!

Meet Anna, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. Diagnosed in her first year of university, epilepsy was a bit of an anomaly to her. While she had heard the term before, she never truly understood what it meant nor had she ever come across someone who actually had epilepsy.

Anna believes epilepsy continues to be a hidden disease and believes there is a lack of conversation about epilepsy, even though over 300,000 individuals live with epilepsy in Canada. Anna sees her own role in needing to raise awareness. She says “I am hoping that my self-advocacy skills can ultimately turn into public advocacy as it pertains to epilepsy awareness and the need for increased public awareness”

Meet Mackenzie, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. Diagnosed in her mid 20’s with Focal Epilepsy, Mackenzie struggled with the loss of independence and had many ups and downs. She struggled to be heard by her doctor, seeking to pair her medication with other various treatments like lifestyle changes and functional medicine. She believes there is a correlation between her ovulation cycle and seizures, as they would always happen around ovulation.

Overlooked by her doctor, Mackenzie shifted her outlook, and started using movement, fitness and mindfulness as coping mechanisms.

Read about how Mackenzie harnesses the power of meditation, stillness, and listening to her body to manage her epilepsy. And how she has not given up on finding a solution.

Meet Kendall, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. After what Kendall describes as a “grueling” nine years, she was diagnosed with childhood absence epilepsy. Her childhood was difficult, filled with lots of blood work, medical tests, doctors offices, medication and side effects. A decision to go to an epilepsy summer camp changed everything for her and empowered her to become a disability advocate. Kendall is now going on 19, with a part time job as a writer for cripple media; continuing her advocacy work. And as of October, she is seizure free.

Meet Rebecca, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. As an only child, living on her family farm Rebecca was a young girl prone to daydreaming, which made her “absence seizures” hard to detect and recognize. Once diagnosed, Rebecca lived with epilepsy mostly in secret. Her poignant and very personal story tells about her struggles as a young woman, coming to grips with the reality of not having children or the life she envisioned for herself. Read about how she learned to cope and turned to art to survive.

Meet Marie, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. Diagnosed when she was 17, she did not take the news well. It took an unfortunate wake up call to push her to work with my neurologist to find the right formula that worked for her. Today she is much more hopeful and living a full and better life.

Meet 7-year old Marylee, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. Mary was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was three years old. Her parents are determined to not let Mary’s condition rule her life. Before COVID hit, she was taking ballet lessons during the school year and soccer in the summer. She took swimming lessons as well. Now, she wants to play drums and practice figure skating. She loves cooking and baking, and she is a great artist!

Loryanne Bessette is a 23-year-old student at Queen’s University. She was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 14.

On June 19th 2021 Loryanne will run 100km for 1 in 100 to fundraise for epilepsy research, build awareness and break down the stigma surrounding epilepsy.

Meet Joel, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. Despite living with epilepsy Joel continues to live his life to the fullest… which to him means snowboarding!

Meet Stephanie, one of our brave #FacesOfEpilepsy. Stephanie, was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 15 years old. She is the mother of an adorable 4-year-old son, a university student and an outspoken advocate of breaking down the stigma of epilepsy.