Changing a negative into a positive. Why I love Humberside Police

Ooohh mentioning any police force is always a little risky isn’t it. There are always going to be those people who are anti-police for one reason or another, often because they have had a negative experience with the police ….or they have been locked up!. If you are one of those people hear me out and keep on reading , let me explain to you how my negative experience turned into something positive and beneficial for more people than just myself.

OK, now we have got that out of the way, grab your brew, settle in and lets get on with the story.

When I was first diagnosed with epilepsy it was uncontrolled and I could have a seizure at any point in the day. Obviously it was all new to me and I wasn’t always aware of the auras I was experiencing or indeed my triggers, to keep myself safe. Picture the scene, I had been to the cinema with some friends on a Saturday evening. By the time the movie finished it was about 10.30pm. Where I live the cinema is on the ground floor of a building that has a bar on the second floor and there are quite a few bars and pubs around and about. There were some police officers out and about keeping the drunks in line. (I feel I have set the scene quite well there).

Anyway, my friends went off one way and I set off to get a taxi in the opposite direction. Then I started to feel strange. I had a strange taste in my mouth, my head started spinning and I was struggling to speak. I couldn’t remember how to use my phone to call for help and the panic started to set in. Then, like an angel in the night, I saw a police officer, glowing in his hi vis vest, stood a little further down the street next to a funky looking police van. I have never attempted to move so fast in my life, I desperately wanted to get to him before I had a seizure, so I would be safe and he would help me.

Unfortunately for me, it didn’t work out quite like that. The officer, who looked younger than me so I must have been getting old even back then, wasn’t interested in helping me, he thought I was drunk (somewhat understandable on a sat night) and told me to go home. I was repeating the words “I’m epileptic” over and over again while pointing to my medical alert band. It was dark and so the chances of the poor lad being able to see it were slim. He had obviously had enough of me tapping him and trying to get him to understand so he pushed me away and told me to go home. I have never felt so much panic in my life. I didn’t live close to town so it wouldn’t be a quick walk home and I knew I wouldn’t make it there without something happening, there were no taxi’s about and who wants to have a seizure in a taxi and end up with a fine for peeing on the seat?.

Thankfully, another officer came to my rescue. Offered to get me medical help before taking me home and making sure I was safe.

The whole experience knocked my confidence in going out, I couldn’t understand why someone who was supposed to help the public was so reluctant to do so. A couple of years later I set up Purple Owl, the epilepsy awareness charity, and quickly realised the officer wasn’t being mean, he simply didn’t have the knowledge to understand what was happening to me, therefore didn’t know how to help me. In other words it wasn’t his fault.

Determined to make sure nobody else experienced what I did I approached Humberside Police and asked them if Purple Owl could do some training for them, to help their officers understand the hidden side of epilepsy, the seizures you can’t see and the behaviour that can come with them.

Here’s the best bit …. Are you ready ….

THEY COULDN’T BE HAPPIER TO ACCEPT OUR HELP AND TRAINING!!

Humberside police were the first force to take epilepsy seriously and to undertake the training. They have paved the way for other forces to develop a greater understanding of the condition and I am confident, once the training is rolled out, all Humberside police officers will take epilepsy as seriously as mental health or other medical conditions.

When I say it warmed my heart to be a part of their training I really mean it, it really did. As a charity we love all police forces, and look forward to working closely with them all, but from a personal perspective, I will always have a soft spot of Humberside.