Dion Weatherhead 11/6/1991 - 11/3/2016

Epilepsy is one of the worst things I have ever seen and had to take care of. The cramping muscles, the rolled back eyes, the shaking, the gut wrenching scream let out before the actual seizure starts. It's just brutal and for that to happen to a family member makes it all the more harder to deal with.

The worst part of it though are the silent fits because if you miss just one and the only way you knew they had a fit is if the person told you or you found them on the floor, it makes you feel useless. I mainly took care of Dion by making sure I kept an ear out when I was in my room next door and I made sure I let my parents know if i'm going out as we always had someone in the house to keep an ear out. So say I was going to London for a few days, I'd let my parents know a few weeks in advance so they can book days off work. I would also stay up all night until Dion woke up and then went to bed and then I got up when he went to bed and so on and so on, strictly on the off chance that if he had a fit during the night, it could be a silent one.

On the 11th of March 2016, I woke up as if it was any other day and treated it like it was a normal day until I got back from having to go from home to Manchester then Bury then back home and THEN I can make the day what it was about... My and Dion's Mother's birthday. At no point did I think I was going to go home to be sat down by my parents for them to tell me my brother had passed away in the early hours of the morning.

I thought something was odd from the early hours of the morning to setting off to go to Manchester as Dion would go by a technicality to wish someone a happy birthday or merry Christmas rather than waiting until tomorrow so he should have came out at around 1am to wish mum a happy birthday, but he never came out of his room so I just assumed he went to bed early.

I'm not going to lie, there has always been a part of me that thought Dion would pass away from an epilepsy related accident as he was stubborn about his epilepsy and would walk the dogs at 3 in the morning when no one is awake, so I would run after him shouting down the street "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!! WHAT IF YOU HAD A FIT?!!!" and he'd get a bath without letting anyone know but at no point did I ever think "No, he's just going to kick the bucket from a normal fit"

Dion was one of the most kind hearted people you could know. Although there were moments he said something inappropriate, that's what made Dion...well... DION.

Me and Dion fought and argued, as brothers do, right up until his last week alive and it was if he knew he was going to pass away and everything was in place for him to pass away. One of the last things he told me was "Cheers for looking after me and my epilepsy" which I hate myself for as I gave a very nonchalant "yeah, no problem".

The reason I was so nonchalant was because I never thought he would pass away (naturally) and it was because I was so used to dealing with his epilepsy, even my friends commented on it as I would be speaking to them on skype and I would interrupt them saying "hang on, fit happening" in a calm tone as if to say "kettles done, just going to make brew" and they would just be astonished by that and now I see it. Epilepsy should NEVER be such a normal thing to anyone like that.

Yes, it helps because i'm not running around not knowing what to do in a state of panic but it should never feel normal and it was that thought I had while remembering Dion on the 20th of June 2016 that led to the creation of this fundraiser in the wee hours of the morning of the 21st of June 2016.

Please help battle epilepsy whether you're someone who suffers with it, someone who takes care of someone with it or you're someone who just wants to help. If you can't donate, please share and get the word out.