It's been a while since my last post... so what better way to break the silence than a post about something very close to my heart.
Today is Purple Day, the day we spread awareness about Epilepsy around the world.
I was honoured to be asked by Epilepsy Society to be a part of their new film All About Epilepsy, talking about my experiences of living with epilepsy, from first symptoms to diagnosis and on to living with the condition, working, having children while taking my medication, and finally becoming seizure free 3 years ago after a 20+ year journey to achieve this goal.
I am so proud to be a part of this project.
I hope that by talking openly and unashamedly about our epilepsy, my fellow interviewees and I will be able to help people accept, understand and live in harmony with their epilepsy.
The films have been translated into Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Somail, Turkish and Urdu. I can't imagine the struggle many people have to come to terms with their epilepsy when in some languages there isn't even a word for epilepsy. Instead there are connotations of demons, evil spirits, witchcraft and wizardry when it is purely a medical condition.
We celebrated the launch of the 2 part series of programmes today at the London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel as a part of the community project in North and East London to raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with epilepsy and increase communication within communities.
Prime Minister David Cameron also got behind the campaign today and supported Purple Day & the Epilepsy Society films, epilepsy also having affected his family in the very saddest of ways.
So, go purple! I even put a purple collar on my dogs today!
Click Here to watch All About Epilepsy Part 1 - an overview of epilepsy with examples of seizures and how you can help.
Click Here to watch All About Epilepsy Part 2 - 5 people (including me!) talk about their experiences with epilepsy.
