My daughter Merryn was a healthy, happy and very active 2 year old that enjoyed nursery and playtime with her 4 year old sister Connie. However, on the morning of Sunday the 17th of November 2024 all that changed. Out of nowhere Merryn had her first unexpected seizure. These continued and progressed over the next 5 days - by Friday things were getting much worse and Merryn experienced 24 seizures within just a few hours. As a family we were scared, confused and extremely worried about her future - the medication was not helping to control Merryn’s seizures and she was put into an induced Coma, where she was stabilised and transferred to Cardiff paediatric intensive care unit. Over the following few weeks they started to control the seizures and we spent Christmas at home together as a family. On Boxing day we finally received the news that Merryn was diagnosed with a very rare form of epilepsy called SCN2A, that affects only 1 in 80,000 children. This diagnosis enabled the doctors to change her medication which has had a great impact on her recovery - she has come so far in the last 6 months, progressing daily and has recently returned to nursery.

The charity has given us so much support during this difficult time that we would like to give a little something back by helping to raise awareness and funds for them to be able to support other families in our situation.

With the help and support of my colleagues at Hayle Veterinary Surgery we are organising a young epilepsy awareness charity event where members of staff will be running a half marathon around Hayle. Alongside this we are hosting a family social event, with cakes, face painting and a raffle to raise funds for the charity and much more. Please come along and join in the fun and be part of our day.

Your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate £5 or £500. Every little bit helps.

Thank you for your time to read this and hopefully we can all be more aware and make a difference together.