Knowledge is power when it comes to helping children with epilepsy

More than 70% of children with epilepsy are receptive to medication and lead a seizure-free life, says Dr Niamh McSweeney of CUH

Dr Niamh McSweeney, consultant paediatric neurologist, Cork University Hospital, advises any parents whose child has been diagnosed with epilepsy to stay in close contact with the epilepsy nurses. Picture: Denis Minihane.

The date of her daughter’s first epileptic seizure, 27 February 2017, is a day Helen McLoughlin will never forget—even though Grace, now 16, had already been diagnosed with epilepsy some years previously.

“From the age of five or six I would notice her beginning to stare a lot—it’s called focal absences—but I didn’t know what it was then. I used to call her to attention and thought it was just like any normal child daydreaming,” explains Helen.