Family praises ‘life-changing’ support

AN Angus mother and daughter have praised life-changing support from a national epilepsy centre.

Jackie Kelly from Montrose is affected by epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

Only through help from the William Quarrier Scottish Epilepsy Centre (WQSEC) has she been able to combat her condition, which saw her suffering several seizures in a day.

Jackie, 50, who lives with her mother due to her condition, started experiencing seizures when she was seven. One was so severe it broke a bone in her back.

They became worse when she was 11 and she has lived with multiple daily seizures ever since, regularly having more than 12 a day.

In 2013, Jackie and her family began receiving free support from Lorraine McNab, Quarriers’ epilepsy fieldworker.

Jackie’s mum Margaret said: “Lorraine gave us a lot of advice and support.”

Jackie was referred to the WQSEC in Govan where she was observed for a month. The time at the centre was the tipping point in her road to recovery.

Margaret said: “Jackie is a very positive person and always smiles and says nothing’s wrong, so this made it difficult for doctors to know exactly what was going on.

“However, when she was under constant observation they were able to see the full extent of her condition.”

Jackie had corpus callosotomy surgery and, following the operation three months ago, Jackie’s seizures have dramatically reduced.

She has experienced two seizures and five to six small twitches.

Margaret said: “I can see a real difference in Jackie. She’s so much brighter. None of this would have come about had she not got into the William Quarrier Scottish Epilepsy Centre.”

For further information about the William Quarrier Scottish Epilepsy, visit scottishepilepsycentre.org.uk.