For SUDEP Action Day 2024, the family of the late Tadgh Cormican have written this piece about the loss of their brother and son due to Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy…
Tadhg was a quiet person who was happiest when working as a horticulturist in the local Garden Centre. He was attentive and helpful to both his family and customers. He was content in simple things, being outside and working in nature. He was a truly selfless person.
He enjoyed listening to music and watching sport. He had a huge music collection that is still in his room and is a daily reminder of his love for music. There are walls of records built up since he was a teenager everything from Oasis and The Smiths to The Pogues and Paul Simon.
He was active with many outdoor hobbies as well - including cycling and handball, and he was a member of the local handball club. Tadhg’s favourite football team was Liverpool, and he watched all the games with our father.
Tadhg had two medical events in the year prior to his death. We now know that these were seizures and while it was a long journey to a diagnosis, it eventually led to a diagnosis of epilepsy following a series of tests. Despite the diagnosis, for all intents and purposes, Tadgh was a healthy and fit 46-year-old man who appeared to be managing his condition well.
Tadgh was the definition of a people pleaser, and he never wanted to be a burden to others but looking back now, we are left questioning whether he may have known that something else was going on but did not want to upset the rest of the family.
On the 3rd of November 2023 we lost our son and brother Tadhg Cormican to Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. Tadgh had been working on the day of his death and he had a seizure while watching a match in the evening with my father and fell on the kitchen floor. Evey effort was made to save him but unfortunately, nothing could be done.
It has been a terrible year of grief for us all but especially our parents, and particularly our mother. There is a huge gap in all our lives but our father, who is 85, has Alzheimer’s and would continue to look for Tadgh in the weeks following his passing.
As a family, we look back and feel disappointed that Tadhg’s epilepsy wasn’t controlled better with medication - he had just started medication two months prior. As mentioned, Tadgh had a journey to being officially diagnosed but we actually welcomed when he got the diagnosis as we were hopeful that it could be treated, and he would have a regular routine of health.
As a family, we also had knowledge of epilepsy – as my mother has lived with epilepsy her whole life and it has been well controlled with medication for her – but despite this, none of us were aware of SUDEP. We are now all too aware of the devastating implications it can have.
It is still so unbelievable that someone fit and healthy could die so suddenly at home with his family in such a way. We first seen the word SUDEP in the pathology results stating Tadgh’s cause of death.
Our family are sharing our experience as part of SUDEP Action Day to highlight the devastating impact SUDEP can have. More public knowledge of SUDEP is needed amongst the entire epilepsy community, and there should be more funding for health promotion on this topic. From speaking to Epilepsy Ireland, I know that a key campaign moving forward will be to introduce strategies to reduce SUDEP and epilepsy-related deaths. This is something my family, and I have no doubt, other families who have been bereaved support. I was surprised to learn about the lack of information there is on the prevalence of epilepsy-related deaths in Ireland, but I know this will change soon. This needs to be acted on to ensure that no other family has to go through what we have gone through.
I know Tadgh would want to see lessons learned from his untimely passing and would be proud if our story helped just one family out there learn more about SUDEP and see what can be done to reduce the risks. For families who are struggling to get answers to episodes that they feel are seizures, keep investigating and search for answers – it is so important.
For those who are unfortunately in a similar situation to our family and have lost a loved one due to SUDEP or an epilepsy-related death, I would encourage you to please share your loved one’s details with the Epilepsy Deaths Register for Ireland – it is vital in learning more about why people have died and how it can potentially be prevented in the future.
As a family, we will continue to miss Tadhg but mostly we wish we could have a chance to change things and wish we could have had some intervention to save him. We wish we could thank him for how he added to our lives and thank him for the precious memories, Tadgh - You’ll Never Walk Alone.
We would like to thank the Cormican family for taking the time to share their experience about the devastating loss of Tadgh as part of our public awareness for SUDEP Action Day 2024. To learn more about SUDEP, visit the ‘SUDEP’ page on our website.
Tadgh Cormican - Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.