This past Purple Day, March 26, Duncan Green did something he’d never done before — he publicly shared his experience with epilepsy.
In a classroom in front of his fellow students at Sinclair Secondary School in Whitby, the Grade 12 student spoke about what it was like to live with epilepsy. Most importantly, he described how that despite having a seizure disorder, he was no different than anyone else.
“It was quite a scary experience at first, as I had never told anyone that I have epilepsy, but it made me happy that people finally understood what it was actually like,” he says. “What people see in the media is often the most severe and worst cases, which gives many people a much different impression of epilepsy than (the) reality.”
Green has been affected by epilepsy since he was nine, although it would take many years before he had a formal diagnosis. Having the condition, he says, caused a “lifetime of underachievement” that was frustrating because he was not tapping his full potential. He hid his condition from his peers because he didn’t want to be viewed as being different.
In April 2012, Green suffered his first generalized tonic-clonic seizure. Two months later he was diagnosed with a form of idiopathic epilepsy.
“Once I was told, I did not believe my neurologist,” he recalls. “I thought that epilepsy was something that only happened to other people, that I could not possibly have it. I was both scared and felt alone.”
But Green is determined not to allow his condition to navigate his path in life. In fact, he wants to use his experience to help others. He has been accepted to the University of Toronto at Scarborough where he’s pursuing a degree in psychology.
“I entered into psychology with the intention of going into therapeutic psychology. I want to help other people with similar conditions overcome the psychological aspect of their condition which, in my experience, was worse than the condition itself,” he says.
Green is one of six Ontario students to receive an OBCL Epilepsy Scholarship Award. The scholarships were presented June 13.
OBCL has been supporting students with epilepsy through the scholarship awards since 2006. Every year, up to 10 Ontario students win a $1,000 scholarship for post-secondary education. As part of their application package, students must submit a personal essay under that year’s theme.
Writer: Deron Hamel
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