Sunderland Echo

Evie fights back to enjoy an ‘amazing’ night at the Brits

- Chris Cordner chris.cordner@jpimedia.co.uk @CCordnerjp­i

A social media star has relived the incredible experience of being at the Brit Awards – and how a seizure almost ruined it all.

Evie Field, from Durham, was at the mega night where she got to see celebritie­s such as Adele, Ed Sheeran, and Jordan and Perri from Diversity.

Evie, who wants to tell the world about her life with Tourette’s syndrome, was at the event as a guest of You Tube who she has been working with.

She described the O2 Arena experience in London as ‘amazing. The room felt very alive.”

She added: “We were quite near the front and a lot of celebritie­s were in front of us.

"We were quite close to Olivia Rodrigo who won an award, and Kate from Line of Duty.

"We were quite excited to see her as my whole family has binge watched Line of Duty.”

But Evie’s night came just hours after a health scare at a London theatre.

She explained that she had been to see a show the day before the awards, but Evie said: “It was just when it started and the lights went down. I went into a seizure and was pretty out of it for the rest of the show.”

"I was a bit worried that I would not be able to make it to the Brit Awards but I managed and didn’t have any more seizures.”

The 21-year-old, who has more than 14million followers on TikTok, shares her experience­s of a daily struggle with tics and seizures from Functional Neurologic­al Disorder on social media under the names of This Trippy Hippie and Evie Meg.

She admitted that she had suffered a number of seizures at the start of this year.

But that is not stopping her from taking up some amazing opportunit­ies to spread awareness.

She said attending the Brit Awards had been a ‘bit of a push’ because of her health but she added: “I

didn’t want to miss this opportunit­y.”

Next on her agenda is a speech which Evie has been asked to give to the EU Commission

in Luxembourg in May.

"It is about Tourette’s and disability in the workplace and how we can be a bit more inclusive.”

She added; “I am really excited. It is so out of my comfort zone. It will mean standing on a podium.

"It is scary but I am really grateful for the opportunit­ies and I would not miss them.”

Evie started her social media posts for fun in 2016, but interest took off. At one point, her TikTok following grew by one million fans in just two days.

In the last year, she has published her first book called My Nonidentic­al Twin and it tells of Evie’s daily struggle with tics and seizures which are debilitati­ng and often dangerous. They leave her dizzy, sweating and often bruised.

On her social media posts, fans have seen her repeatedly punch herself. She sometimes swears, or makes sounds she can't control.

Fans have also started clubs in tribute to Evie and her fan base is huge in countries such as the USA.

 ?? ?? Evie has more than 14m followers on TikTok.
Evie has more than 14m followers on TikTok.
 ?? ?? Evie Field at the Brit Awards.
Evie Field at the Brit Awards.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom