MEGAN Brandon works as a part-time lifeguard. She’s also a university student, has a regular boyfriend and goes out clubbing with her mates. Nothing unusual about any of that, except Megan has been epileptic since the age of 10.

Last year, to publicise Purple Day, Megan, 18, from Darwen, became a poster girl for Epilepsy Action. She was sporting a black eye and looked like a victim of domestic abuse. It was in fact an injury caused during a seizure.

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This year she is taking part in a project which charts people’s experiences of epilepsy through pictures. The result is a series of photographic journeys that show the impact the condition has on daily life, from the bumps and bruises of seizure-related accidents to managing multiple medicines and major life events.

Says Megan: “Epilepsy is a condition many people don’t really know about or know what it is like to live with. I wanted to show how I have coped with having epilepsy and the shocking reality that comes with it.”

Thanks to medication – she takes five Keppra tablets a day – she’s not had a seizure for 11 months. Which must be a great relief to her parents who have seen their daughter enjoy her first holiday abroad without them and start studying at Edge Hill University.

“My parents were very worried about me going to Zante because it was so far away. They were also concerned about me going to live away from home at uni. My mum’s on the phone a lot, but she trusts me not to do anything stupid. I always make sure I know where I’m going and who with and everyone around me knows what to do if I have a seizure.

“If I go out with friends, I won’t have a lot to drink - just the odd vodka and lemonade. I don’t have to have a lot to drink to enjoy myself and I always feel like I’m part of the fun.”

Megan also has a new boyfriend, Nathan, who is fully aware of the situation.

“He’s a little worried about it in case anything ever happens, but he knows what to do if it does.”

Although she’s delighted to be able to live a full and relatively normal life, Megan is concerned for the future.

She’s currently studying for a child development qualification and eventually wants to become a primary school teacher.

“I do think about my employability.

“People can sometimes avoid employing you for the simple fact of what happens if you have a seizure in their workplace.

“However, in some ways it has helped me with my job. I’m a lifeguard and I feel more comfortable dealing with a seizure than any other incident as I know how that person is feeling, and my job has also helped me become more confident when explaining what epilepsy is and the correct first aid treatment for a seizure. I have also found applying for a driving licence hard and stressful due to all the paperwork, but that is understandable.

“Having epilepsy has never affected my relationships or friendships as I have always made the people I am with aware of what could happen and what they should do. But it has had more of an effect on my family.

“Going to live away from home, my parents’ main priority was to make sure that the people I am living with knew about epilepsy and how to deal with it. But they did leave it up to me to tell them, as I can be uncomfortable telling people straight away that I have epilepsy, as you never know how people will react.”

Megan is also concerned about the future and having her own children.

Birth defects - including cleft palate, neural tube defects, skeletal abnormalities, congenital heart and urinary tract defects - are the primary concerns with anti-seizure medications. However, ceasing medication has risks of its own.

Stress can also be a trigger for a seizure and Megan was having three or four a year when she was studying for exams. They tend to happen at night and she is left with no recollection of what has happened.

“I was diagnosed at the age of 10, so I have had time to adapt to it. Not having a seizure for 11 months is a major achievement for me. I feel that epilepsy is a condition that many people don’t really know about or know what it is like to live with.

“I want to show people how I have coped with having epilepsy and the shocking reality that comes with it.

“Putting all the pictures together changed how I view having epilepsy.

“It showed me all the incredible journeys I have been through in the space of a year, some of which I never thought I’d be able to do because of epilepsy.

“I used to think that having epilepsy stopped me having much freedom and that people (mainly family) were always very protective and limited me to what I could do.

“But now when I look back at the pictures, I realise that they were supportive in everything I did andnever took my freedom away from me or stopped me.

“If I could sum up living with epilepsy in a few words, I would say it is definitely hard and life-changing, but it makes you a stronger person as you realize the barriers you can overcome in any situation.”