'Hollie's epilepsy won't stop her being a popstar!'
Hollie first started having seizures when she was 6 months old. Her dad's epileptic and so we recognised the signs immediately - but getting her diagnosed wasn't so easy.
Every time she had a seizure we took her into the hospital and she had a scan of her brain, but they never showed anything unusual. We knew that it was because by the time she got scanned, the seizure was over and so her brain had gone back to normal.
It wasn't until Hollie was 4 that she was diagnosed at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool as having generalised epileptic seizures. She was put on medication to control them but as she got older her condition changed and she developed something called complex refractory epilepsy which is very difficult to control. Between the ages of 5 and 10 she was having seizures every day. We tried lots of different medication but getting it right was tough.
Between 9 and 10 was her worst year. Her normal primary school just couldn't deal with her. They'd never had an epileptic pupil at the school and so every time Hollie had a seizure they would call out an ambulance as they just didn't know what else to do. Hollie hated it - kids were mean to her and when she went back to school they would say things which really upset her. It was so hard to see her so depressed and I knew that something had to be done to help her.
For years I'd been trying to get enough evidence together to get her accepted into a special school with no luck. She was really behind with english and maths and so unhappy I knew she needed to be somewhere where they understood her condition better. The support I got from my family and from the Cheshire Carers Centre spurred me on. They made me realise Hollie was entitled to a Disability Living Allowance, which really helped.
Hollie had started seeing a play therapist, Peter, at a local mental health clinic. He told her that they couldn't make her epilepsy go away, but they could change the way she looked at it. It was with Peter's help that we got her a place at a brilliant school for children with all types of learning difficulties where she gets the care she needs.
Now Hollie is so much happier. I run a business from home so I'm always around when she needs me, which helps her to stay calm. She still has absence seizures sometimes, where she loses concentration but at the moment everything else seems OK and I'd say she's 90% better than she was before. She can stay at Hebden Green until she's 19 if she wants and do GCSEs or Life Skill Awards whenever she's ready, but at the moment she wants to be a popstar and you don't need english and maths for that!
She's been through some really tough times but has come out of it the other side. People that meet her say you wouldn't have a clue there was anything wrong because she's such a happy soul. She's just like any 12-year-old now, concerned with her looks and having fun.
Clare Handforth, 38 from Cheshire and mum to Hollie, 12
For more detailed information on Epilepsy - visit Epilepsy Action or call the helpline on 0808 800 5050
More help from us
- Epilepsy in children: facts and information
- 'A special diet helped my son's epilepsy'
- Epilepsy in adults: facts and information
By Charlotte Gunn
