A P.E.I. woman has a safety measure for those who are prone to seizures
Yakosu Umana | CBC News | Posted: November 28, 2021 2:54 PM | Last Updated: November 28, 2021
Paxton Caseley's seizures can cause her to lose motor skills, sensory ability
A P.E.I. woman is raising awareness of a unique safety measure for medical conditions such as seizures.
Stratford's Paxton Caseley has focal epilepsy. She often has seizures that can cause her to lose her motor skills and sensory ability.
"It kind of depends on the type that I have, but most commonly I will kind of lose awareness," she said.
"I don't lose consciousness, but I'm not entirely aware of what's going on around me. It's very difficult to understand what people are saying."
Seizures triggered by stress
Her seizures are triggered by stress, she said. One happened recently in a minor accident while on a bus.
But she had a safety measure.
"I had my phone in my hand and the most that I could do when the police officer came to me was I dropped my phone on the seat, and he picked it up and read the information," she said. "My mother is my primary contact on my phone."
Her mother gave the police officer steps on how to help her, Caseley said.
She has the information needed to assist her as the background image on her lock screen.
It includes her name, her spoken language and a description of her medical condition "which I have listed as partial seizures or focal epilepsy and my primary contact being my mother." It also shows how someone can assist her if she is having a seizure.
Helpful for other medical conditions
Caseley got the idea from a past experience in an airport.
"I had a seizure because of temperature changes and I didn't have a way to tell anybody what was happening to me. It was very scary and nobody knew what to do."
She said the safety measure can help those with medical conditions other than epilepsy.
"There's a lot of different conditions where if you're having a medical emergency that you might not be able to convey the issue to somebody and how to help you or how to contact somebody that can help you."