Obviously you never lived with an epileptic for 9 years........... There were moments she talked (but not clearly) while flinging her arms at me as I tried to contain her. I am divorced and yes we had problems, but no I did not think she'd attack me on any given moment. However, we did have days in a row that I thought about sleeping with one eye open for safety!

We separated for 6 months back in 1997 and even after getting back together for another 3 years I always had that thought in the back of my mind there is a CHANCE she could lash out against me during a really rough time.... Those are the times I refer to. The times when I was not sure if she was in a seizure or actually attacking.


I want to reitterate, CAUTION!!!!! Only ignorant people will form an opinion without knowing 100% of the facts! Unless there is a video tape NONE OF US can say with any certainty who was in the right or wrong. So please use caution...............

Y'all need to read the whole article. There's more to the story than a seizure.

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Tillman, people coming out of a seizure can become very scary. I learned to deal with my grandmother at a very young age. Did your ex, when coming out of a seizure ever physically hurt you? Best thing to do, is place yourself out of harms way and remain calm.

I agree that one should reserve judgement, however, IF protocol was followed, then the paramedics and police would have known that this was a seizure and it would seem to me, should have known how to deal with the belligerence in a better way.

Ocean-what difference if there was pot involved? A seizure is a seizure. IF protocol was followed, they would have already been informed (and in fact the brother was telling them that it was a seizure) that it was a seizure before they even arrived on the scene. So a medical bracelet would have been, at best, redundant.

If there was a medical braclet the police may have responded differently after they found his pot pipe.

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freedomlover1?

I appreciate your understanding that my personal experiences with epileptics are to an extreme extent. I'm also glad you reitterated my point about *knowing all the facts* before passing judgment.

I want to be clear that I am 100% for prosecution if indeed police/paramdics/any other pofessional field involved were of negligence... It just really pisses me off seeing 1 damn report which is quite often SLANTED to one side or the other manipulate early opinions.......... It is actually an epidemic among mainstream media! The do intentionally slant a report to an extreme all for the sake of RATINGS which mean $$$ on advertisement space between those reports...

Didn't see where they found a pot pipe in the article. Did see where the brother admitted they had smoked pot the night before. IF protocol was followed, they would have known it was a seizure BEFORE they arrived at the scene.

A medical braclet would have helped with protocol.


"Blake Dwyer had been experiencing grand mal epileptic seizures for about a year, possibly brought on, his mother said, by a concussion.

He and Travis spent the preceding night with friends. They admit they smoked marijuana from a pipe provided by one of the other boys but insist they used no other illegal substances. Blake’s blood workup the next morning showed only traces of marijuana in his system.

They were getting ready for football practice about 10:30 a.m. Travis said he saw Blake bend over to tie his tennis shoes.

“He looked up, and his eyes rolled back in his head,” Travis said. “He fell over and started frothing at the mouth and jerking. I knew he was having a seizure. I was there when he had the others, and I knew what to do.”

Travis said he had learned to calm Blake, who comes out of the seizures with postictal psychosis, a condition that accompanies seizures in some patients to varying degrees. Blake becomes disoriented and frightened, he said. He panics and tries to fight, especially if someone tries to restrain him.

On that morning, Travis began talking to Blake, and some of his fear subsided. Someone at the house called 911, and an ambulance arrived. Paramedics told Travis to step back, and they strapped Blake to a gurney.

“I tried to tell them that he’s claustrophobic and he couldn’t stand to be strapped down,” Travis said. “But they wouldn’t listen to me.”

According to the paramedic report, Blake was combative. He was making incoherent sounds and fighting against the restraints. He freed his arms and, still strapped to the gurney by the lower part of his body, he began flailing his arms. He struck a firefighter in the face."

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Sensationalization. Can't believe the media would do such a thing

IF (and that is a big if) the police did mishandle the situation, I don't necessarily think that it should be prosecuted, unless there was indeed malice involved. Perhaps they truly had no other choice, perhaps they simply did not have the proper training, or perhaps they simply made a mistake. If no permanent damage was done, I would think that an apology would be acceptable. As a parent, I would be spitting mad if that happened to a child of mine, but I don't think I would sue. However, many have learned that an apology is the same as admitting you were in the wrong, therefor are afraid of being sued, so I would be surprised if an apology is forthcoming.

I read the article in it's entirety. They "admitted to smoking pot", nowhere does it state the police found a pot pipe. The paramedic report sounds exactly as one would describe someone coming out of a grand mal seizure. They are scared, disorientated, AND their brain still isn't firing right. Does that warrent extreme measures in your book? What if this was a child of yours?

Again, I will state that grand mals are extremely scary to the loved ones dealing with them. I was young when I had to learn to deal with my grandmothers. In fact, I experienced 2 of them BEFORE my family even bothered to tell me she had seizures. I spent a great deal of time with her, and therefore had no choice but to learn how to cope with them. Scary for a child, but I would have wanted to do serious damage to anyone that harmed her while she was in that state.

After rereading this last post (maybe missed it in original post) I can see a legitimate argument to both sides of this issue.

How many people are aware that an electrical shock *OFTEN* brings a person out of a seizure? YES! it's true! Science behind this fact is not studied to any large extent but it was previously used in decades past to STOP an existing seizure!

My exwife had seizures lasting from 5 seconds to 5 minutes! No way could I ever tell how long one would last. During all those Video EEG's during hospital stays could they tell any difference either! My exwife averaged over 230 seizures per year until her last brain surgery (left frontal lobe removal). After that her seizures dropped to about half as many per year and often lasting no more than 45-90 seconds....

It is *possible* an officer knew that electrical shock was capable of ending a seizure!


Edited to add---------her neuropsychiatrist did tell us that electrical shock to end a seizure was only used when a seizure had lasted more than 3 minutes. It was not part of our normal discussions but it was something I asked about due to all the reasearch I had already done about epilepsy.