Tara Sutterby

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

I want to raise money and make a difference for people living with epilepsy. Please help me by giving whatever you can using the 'Donate' button. The more people that know about the walk, the greater the impact, so please also spread the word by sharing our page with your friends and family. Thank you in advance for your generosity, it means a lot!

My story:

In February of 2025 when I was 23 years old, my life changed in a way I never saw coming. I had my very first tonic-clonic seizure completely out of the blue, and from that moment a lot changed in my life. Before my diagnosis of epilepsy, I was living a happy life, working full-time in a job I absolutely loved, driving wherever I wanted, enjoying my independence and never imagining it could all be taken away so suddenly and flipped upside down. After some testing, I was diagnosed in June of 2025 with left temporal lobe epilepsy caused by a focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) and a DNET brain lesion. What many people don’t realise is that the typical seizure most people think of was only the beginning. All of my seizures now are focal impaired awareness seizures, and they’re completely invisible to everyone around me. It’s not what people think all seizures involve, I don’t fall to the ground, physically move or shake, so if you were standing next to me, you probably wouldn’t even know I was having one. But inside my brain, everything changes. Words become scrambled, I can’t process what people are saying, it feels like my brain inserts random words over conversations or the TV, and for those moments I lose the ability to understand what’s happening even though I often remain aware of my surroundings. Living with epilepsy isn’t just about the seizures themselves, it’s the mental battle that comes with them. It’s the uncertainty of never knowing when the next seizure will happen, the fear that follows, the medication changes, the appointments, the loss of independence, and trying to adapt to a life you never expected to have. I think one of the hardest things is how quickly life can change. One day you’re healthy, working, driving, making plans for the future, and the next, your world can look completely different through no fault of your own. If there’s one thing I wish more people understood about epilepsy, it’s that not every seizure is visible, and not every struggle can be seen. Just because someone looks okay on the outside doesn’t mean they aren’t fighting one of the biggest battles of their life on the inside. If sharing my story helps even one person understand epilepsy a little better, then it’s worth telling. 💜