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Friday, November 21, 2014

Witnessing my first seizure in public

With about 5 minutes left in the RIT hockey game tonight, I looked over to the pep band (1 section over from me and the corner crew) and saw a kid having a seizure in the middle of the band. I literally sprinted up the steps, over to the next section, and down to him.

One lady pretended like she knew what to do, but she had no idea. She just kinda got everyone out of the area and watched, so I took over. I rolled him on his side, like you're supposed to, and just kinda supported him in that position. There was a hoodie under his head, but it was basically just laid out with only a small part of it under his head. I saw the side of his head hitting the concrete and literally felt vibrations in the floor from his head hitting it. I yelled at someone in the row above me, who was also just kinda watching, and told them to take the hoodie, bundle it up, and get it further under his head so that it was actually doing something. Meanwhile, I'm trying to hold his head and body up just enough to stop his head from hitting the ground. Someone got the hoodie under his head and I set him down, still keeping him on his side.

As the paramedics came over, I kept him on his side until they could take over. The seizure was stopping, but he still wasn't there consciously. When the paramedics got the situation more under control, I left and let them take over. I went back to the corner crew, but I just couldn't stay. I went over to the band and reassured them that he was going to be OK. The band director came up to me, thanked me, and shook my hand. I proceeded to tell him that I have epilepsy, told him a little about camp and that I had never witnessed one outside of camp.

I've said before that I've witnessed a ton of seizures at camp, but it would catch me off guard and probably scare the crap out of me if I saw one in public. I was right. I'm kinda drained both emotionally and physically right now. I had to turn him on his side using mostly my right arm, and that is the side that is always weak from my seizures. I was supporting him (holding him on his side) with both arms, but he wasn't exactly a small guy, so that didn't help. He's not huge, but not as small as the kids at camp that I'm used to. (Plus I generally have help at camp.) All of that left some soreness in my arm.

Not only the physical, but also the mental/emotional stress. I've witnessed so many at camp, but this was different. I can't imagine what the band and their director are going through right now. I was on the verge of tears afterward, and I don't even know the guy. I know that they're all worried about him, but I hope that they are alright too.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Randy… I've never witnessed one myself, but I suppose it isn't easy to *properly* handle the situation. Since my diagnose I made real sure to be aware of these scenarios and to properly advise my family on how to handle the scenario in case they did not know how to response to my convulsions.
    Quick question: Was the pep band composed of young kids?
    *Once again…Thank you for sharing your stories.*
    Cheers!

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  2. Not exactly "young" kids, college kids. It was a college hockey game, so it was the college pep band. I'm sure they were still very scared and worried though.

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  3. Good job Randy. Now you have experienced the emotions of people who deal with helping. It is worse when don't understand what you are seeing. As usual my pride in you never ceases. You just find ways to increase it. ��

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