Epilepsy Awareness - Training courses can help you!

"Very helpful should be made compulsory for all employees."

"Sally Gomersall is a proficient facilitator, incredibly knowledgeable and keen to impact that knowledge."

"The course has been great and gave me more insight and awareness of epilepsy."

"Very informative"

"Very well delivered"

"I enjoyed the course."

"Overall the course was enlightening and confidence building."

"I learned so much more than I expected to and changed many of my previous thoughts and ideas on the subject."

"Plenty of discussion and interacting"

"The course has helped me to understand more about epilepsy and how it can be managed."

"It was generally informative and has enhanced my confidence in my job."

"A very good chance to re-fresh and update knowledge."

"An interesting and informative course"

"It was helpful to have a trainer who has personal experience of the condition."

"Very educational"

"Good to have someone present the course that has been through the subject in every way."

"More interesting that I could have imagined."

"Absolutely brilliant course."

"Thoroughly enjoyed the course and have been enlightened."

"This course would benefit the parents of the people that we support."

"Very comprehensive training"

"Extremely informative, covered all areas of definition causes and tests available; the effects it has on the individual psychologically, emotionally and socially. Sally’s willingness to share her personal experiences made the course real."

"Valuable addition to my knowledge base and will be more authoritative in my future dealings with my client group and be able to offer guidance, support and undertake risk assessment"

"The overall content of the course was extremely relevant, informative and interesting."

"I have received very positive feedback from the staff who attended. It has certainly changed attitudes especially towards students who have epilepsy but do not have seizures at college. It has raised awareness about the different types of seizures and how it may impact on the students and their lives. The delivery and pace were just right."

"Sally’s experience of living with uncontrolled seizures has helped me to understand the condition."

"An excellent course, and useful in my work as a support worker. I certainly know more about certain types of epilepsy today than I did yesterday. Sally gave a very positive approach to epilepsy, perhaps due to the fact that she herself has had the condition."

"Very helpful and will assist me in areas of my role in supporting and caring for the service users in my work place."

"The course updated my knowledge and understanding of the epilepsies."
Sally Gomersall developed epilepsy at fifteen months old; and lived the majority of her life with the condition.

For Sally, epilepsy meant fear; fear of having a seizure; and the fear that shows in other people’s faces when they learnt about her condition.

Officially diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy at the age of two, Sally had frequent complex partial seizures and after each seizure she would be very confused and disoriented. In addition to coping with the seizures, Sally also had to manage with the numerous social difficulties that arose as a result of living with epilepsy.

In the working world prejudice and negative attitudes prevailed. Her first boss had no knowledge of epilepsy or how it felt to live with the condition; so much so that he would pressure Sally to stop the events happening at work! A vicious circle was created: the more he pressed, the more stress he added; increasing the frequency of her seizures. Another employer even transferred Sally to another office. The additional fatigue further increased the length of her day. The vicious circle continued.

After the birth of her first baby in 1991 fatigue and anxiety increased the frequency of her seizures again. With the birth of her second child and after years of pressuring her general neurologist, Sally was finally referred to an epilepsy specialist consultant at the National Society of Epilepsy (NSE). The consultant had harsh news for Sally; she discovered that she was at great risk of Sudden Unexpected Death due to Epilepsy (SUDEP) and would most likely not reach her 40th birthday if her seizures could not be stopped.

After many tests to determine whether an operation would stop the seizures, the brain surgery took place within nine months of first meeting the specialist epilepsy consultant. As seizure free days, weeks and months passed, Sally’s confidence gradually grew and her fear of having a seizure slowly decreased. Ten years later, Sally has yet to have another seizure.

If Sally had not insisted on being referred to an epilepsy specialist consultant at an NHS tertiary centre for epilepsy, she probably would not be here today.

"Unfortunately too many individuals with epilepsy do not access specialist epilepsy services and some do not receive appropriate information about their condition that enables them, and their family, to make informed decisions about treatments and care," explains Sally. "Epilepsy Awareness was created to empower people who care for individuals with epilepsy with the confidence and understanding needed to support vulnerable individuals with epilepsy, and access optimal treatment and care within the NHS."

Following treatment at NSE that stopped her seizures, Sally became involved with NSE as a volunteer. She was elected to the board in 2001 by the associate membership.