Almost a year ago, my mother walked into our living room to find my brother (who was 9 years old at the time) covered in vomit and unresponsive. His eyes were open but just staring off into the distance and no matter how loud we cried his name, it was just not getting through to him. His respirations were almost nonexistent. The next several hours were nightmarish, especially because he didn’t wake up for at least five hours. After several tests and a few days at the hospital, they could not diagnose him with anything, but told us they believe he had a seizure.

We tried to go about our lives as best we could but we were shaken again when four months later, to the day, he had another seizure. This time, he was at school. Thankfully it was not as bad as the last. He remained conscious this time, but was very confused and could not identify my father, who rushed to the school from work to meet him and ride the ambulance with him.

Both of these days were terrifying for my entire family. It even shook the ambulance staff a bit because my dad and I are both volunteer firefighters and so are many of the EMTs on the ambulance. In the fire service, everyone is family so it was even a bit emotional for them to be treating my brother in the state he was in.

Thankfully, with the help of a specialist, we have gotten his seizures under control (knock on wood). While none of us would like to go through any of it again, I am in a way thankful that it happened to my brother and that he turned out okay.

While my brother thought he was just taking a nap the first time and really has only the faintest recollection of the second time, he realizes the impact it had on the rest of us. He remembers his time at the hospital which was not very fun for him especially with all the test they needed to run. It gave him a different perspective on life.

Perhaps the best thing that came out of this, was his invention. Every year the elementary school he goes to puts on an invention convention where the 5th graders need to invent something and present it to teachers and other students. My brother took this opportunity to develop a non-working model of a device that could help people with seizure disorders. He was selected to bring his invention to the state convention and even won an award there for it! This year, however, was the first ever year that they held a national invention convention. My brother was lucky enough to be one of 50 kids from Connecticut to be sent to Washington, DC for this convention held at the US Patent and Trademark Office where many large companies such as Microsoft were represented. My brother had the time of his life at this convention.

While what happened to him was unfortunate, it actually turned out to have a bit of positivity in it and opened some doors for him. I am so proud of him every day. He is strong and intelligent and I am thankful that he is okay.