The Epilepsy Ireland team were delighted to attend the annual Irish Epilepsy League Expert Day in the Gibson Hotel recently.
The Irish Epilepsy League are the Irish chapter of the International League Against Epilepsy. Their membership comprises of epilepsy healthcare professionals and the epilepsy research and scientific community working in Ireland.
At the expert day, we had the opportunity to highlight new developments in our services and how we can continue to work together and collaborate as we pursue our joint vision of a society where no person’s life is limited by epilepsy. It was a fantastic day to network with our colleagues in the medical and research community and to speak about our work – we would like to thank our colleagues in the IEL for their invitation to attend on the day.
In advance of their expert day, the Irish Epilepsy League runs a competition for health science/medical students to write a creative essay/poem in prose about epilepsy.
This year, the competition was won by Kildare native and third year RCSI Medicine Student, Evie Dickinson – with her poem entitled, “My Tsunami”.
Evie gave a live reading of her poem at the IEL expert day, which received an incredible reaction – which is why we wanted to share directly on our website as well. Speaking about the development of her poem, Evie said:
I do not have a personal connection to epilepsy, but I was inspired to write the poem because I think it is important for healthcare workers to put themselves in the shoes of patients and try to imagine what life is like for them. When I learned about epilepsy in college, and read some personal experiences of seizures, it made me think of being swept out into the ocean beyond my depth - and so that is what I based my poem on.
With this explanation in mind, you can read Evie’s poem in full below:
My Tsunami
I watched the blue waves calmly ebb and flow,
The small ripples breaking in the golden glint of the sun,
And simmering onto the grey sand.
I scrunched my toes into the small round pebbles of the beach,
And closed my eyes,
Taking in the fresh sea smell.
As I opened my eyes,
There was an abrupt darkening across the sky
A great black cloud crossed over the path of the sunlight
And the small ripples
-Suddenly enraged-
Began to bubble up
Larger waves loomed over the horizon
And filled my gaze
And a tingling feeling
Of fear-
Of doom-
Burned in the pit of my stomach
The tide was reaching my toes now
Grasping at my ankles
And suddenly the small ripples of the tide shrank
And were dragged all the way back down the beach
And it was calm for just a moment.
Until a great wall of black ocean rose up to meet the sky
And thundered towards me on the beach
I was frightened
But I could not move
It grew larger and larger
And closer and closer
Until it swept me up
-My stomach catching in my throat-
And dragged me in
Thrown under
Suddenly immersed
I awaited the surface
And gasped for air
The water leaving an overwhelming saltiness on my tongue
And a smell-
Like smoke
My eyes were blurry
I could not see the shore
And I thrashed in the water
Trying to float
But I was pulled back and forth
Until my movements were not my own
Thrown under again
I had lost all control
I saw a fish looking blankly back at me
He could not help
Now-
Violently thrown towards the rocks
I could not breathe at all
And again-
Slammed against the cold sharp stone
Everything went black
I opened my eyes.Back on the beach
Lying still
The sea-
had returned to its serenity
And the sun
-Looking out from behind a small cloud -
Sent white sparkles across the ocean’s surface
The sky-
Utterly calm
But I-
Exhausted
Drained of all energy
Could hardly move
My mind covered in a dense fog.
I regained my breath,
And lay on the sand a while,
I was safe again.
At least for now,
But always waiting,
For my next Tsunami.
We would like to say a huge congratulations to Evie and all those who entered the competition. People we engage with occasionally make the point that their epilepsy can be misunderstood by those within the medical community or other members of the public. However, the pieces received to this competition once again highlighted how the future is certainly looking bright when it comes to understanding of the condition amongst the next generation of medical professionals.
Well done Evie and thank you for agreeing to share your poem with our members, volunteers and supporters!
If you would like to read some of the pieces we have received on the lived experience of epilepsy, you can find personal stories associated with previous awareness campaigns by visiting the ‘Awareness & Campaigns’ page on our website.