Sarah’s pledge to improve lives
When she was young, Sarah Broad was teased, shunned and sadly made to feel that her life was virtually worthless. Her first epileptic seizure had struck when she was just ten years old, and epilepsy has cast a shadow over her entire life from that day forward.
“I couldn’t imagine living to this age,” she says. “To actually be here now, at 68, is a blessing, having lived with so many seizures for so long.”
At school, teachers accused Sarah of pretending to have seizures. Then once her epilepsy was formally diagnosed, some refused to teach her because of misguided fears she would “put the other members of the class off ”.
“The headmistress sent a letter home saying I would never make anything of myself,” Sarah explains.
“People in the village where I lived said I had the Devil in me. I found out that the people who lived up the hill used to cross the road so they didn’t have to walk past my house – because of my epilepsy.”
However, those days are thankfully long gone. Thanks to the Epilepsy Society, which offers support for the 600,000 people with the condition in the UK, research and awareness of the condition has soared.
Sarah went on to marry Jeremy and become a mum – and she has helped doctors and scientists gain a better understanding of epilepsy by taking part in trials and studies.
And Sarah has committed to support the charity in her Will, anxious that research into epilepsy will continue long after she is gone. “I have been looked after as best as the scientists could have done,” she says. “I hope I can give something back for them.”
The Epilepsy Society calculates that gifts in Wills amount to more than one third of its voluntary income. Any gift – regardless of how much – enables them to continue their essential work.
To find out more, visit epilepsysociety.org. uk/gifts-wills or call 01494 601 442.
I have been looked after as best as the scientists could have done. I hope I can give something back for them