We were absolutely delighted to receive the news that Rebecca Reid from Co. Longford received a Special Achievement Award as part of the Roscommon Longford Garda Division Garda Youth Awards ceremony last night.
The initiative acknowledges outstanding acts of courage and selflessness by young people in their respective communities. Rebecca is certainly the definition of someone who has courage and shows selflessness every day and we are so pleased to see this recognised as part of these community awards.
Rebecca was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was five years old, and her epilepsy has been classed as refractory – meaning it is very difficult to control. Despite the difficult nature of her condition, she is an inspiration to her family, friends and local community. Rebecca certainly doesn’t let epilepsy hold her back and sings in her local choir, volunteers at her local GAA club and is a dab hand at making loom band jewellery!
Earlier this year, Rebecca shared a video as part of our activities around International Epilepsy Day and promoted the key message of TIME, SAFE, STAY. Rebecca also spearheaded a series of local community events and fundraisers to help raise awareness of epilepsy and raise funds for Epilepsy Ireland. Alongside all of this, with the support of her family, she raised over €5,000 on a Facebook fundraiser and the Reid family and Rebecca also shared their experience of life with refractory epilepsy with the Irish Times in the lead up to International Epilepsy Day (you can read the article by visiting the Irish Times website.)
At the award ceremony last night, Rebecca was described as “truly inspirational” – something we could not agree more with. The team here at Epilepsy Ireland know Rebecca and the Reid family well through their support for our work (as outlined above!) and through using our services. Rebecca regularly attends our Get ChARTy offering while her younger sister Emma, regularly attending our online creative workshops for siblings of children with epilepsy. You can read more about both of these events by visiting the ‘Young Epilepsy Programme’ page on our website.
We would like to offer our warmest congratulations to Rebecca on this latest accolade which acknowledges her incredible support for EI despite the challenges she can face due to her epilepsy. Despite having two seizures at the event last night, Rebecca was determined to receive the award last night and did so smiling – showing why she is such an inspiration to all!
Well done and thank you Rebecca!
If you need any information or support on your or your loved one’s journey with epilepsy, please do not hesitate to contact your local Community Resource Officer. You can find their details by visiting the ‘Our Services’ section of our website. You can also watch Rebecca’a video promoting Time, Safe, Stay from earlier this year below: