Chelyce Watson

I’m taking part in Walk for Epilepsy because...

My daughter Maisie (6) has a form of epilepsy called Self-limited epilepsy with autonomic seizures or SeLEAS. It is a childhood epilepsy that shows up with very long focal seizures with autonomic symptoms like vomiting, breath holding and paleness. Before medication, Maisie’s seizures could last anywhere from 10-20mins. Her first seizure happened in February of 2024 while at Kindy and the first seizure I witnessed happened at Easter time that same year. Maisie has had 28 seizures since this time, some as long as 4 and a half mins and some as short as 20-30 seconds, and while she is well controlled on medication now and we are seeing them less frequently, I always feel on high alert. 

The reason I raise money for research and awareness for epilepsy is because when Maisie was first diagnosed I felt like I kept hearing “we just dont know why” to all of my questions. Why is it happening? - “we dont really know”, Will she grow out of it? - “We think so, but we don’t really know”. Why is she having so many seizures? “We’re not sure”.

There are over 60 types of epilepsy and there is desperate need for research into this condition to help sufferers get the answers they deserve. 

I have pledged to walk 100kms from the 1st to the 25th of October and would genuinely love your support. Any donation is greatly appreciated.