Evan Molloy: Devizes Paralympic judo hopeful’s battle with epilepsy

A judo competitor whose goal is to go to the Paralympics has appeared in a television charity appeal describing his experience of epilepsy and how a drug trial changed his life.

Epilepsy runs in his family and he was diagnosed at age four.

He said: “I was afraid to sleep because every time I closed my eyes, I would have a seizure.”

After contacting the Epilepsy Society, he was able to find the right medication and has been seizure-free for almost five years.

Epilepsy affects more than half a million people in the UK, around one in every hundred.

The BBC Lifeline Appeal for the Epilepsy Society was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June and will be repeated on BBC Two on 5 July.

In it, Mr. Molloy explained some of the frightening effects of seizures.

“Post a seizure, I woke up, I was on the floor, I regained control of my body,” he said.

“I went to look in the mirror to check for burns, I didn’t see any. I went back to bed. In the morning, I would wake up with my face stuck to the pillow with the blood I didn’t notice.

“I’d catch it too late because of the visual blur.”

When he was afraid to fall asleep, he would become so exhausted that he would doze off, but then “pull up and panic, because I knew what was coming.”

Mr Molloy went to the charity, which offered video telemetry to be able to identify what was going on in someone’s brain.

He was referred to his medical center in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, in 2019.

“They put these probes all over your head. You’re constantly being monitored during that time – it’s a pretty tough thing mentally to do,” he said.

Then they found the right kind of medicine.

“My life has done a 180 with the research I’m doing and continues to do to help so many other people like me,” Mr Molloy said.

“Now I just want to get to the Paralympics and get on that podium.”

He trained at the Judo Center for Excellence and set his sights on a place in Team GB for the upcoming Paralympics.

Other people with epilepsy and their families appeared alongside Mr Molloy in the short film presented by broadcaster Edith Bowman.

Clare Pelham, chief executive of the Epilepsy Society, said: “His success story really highlights why we are trying so hard to find new and better ways to support people with epilepsy. Everyone deserves the chance to live their best life.”

The charity has a medical research centre, operates an NHS epilepsy assessment unit, provides residential care for around 100 people with severe forms of the condition and runs a helpline.