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My toddler saved my life after I had an epileptic seizure and fell in the bath
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IntroductionA mother has credited her toddler with saving her life after she had an epileptic seizure and fell i ...
A mother has credited her toddler with saving her life after she had an epileptic seizure and fell in the bath.
Emma Evans, from Bridgend in south Wales, had 'turned blue' when she was found by her husband Alun after he heard a call from their daughter.
Emma, 33, believes she would have died if her little girl, Amelia, three, hadn't raised the alarm when she did.
Amelia shouted for Alun, a property maintenance manager, after her mum fell headfirst into the tub of warm water during a seizure on March 16 - saying 'mummy's gone in my bath' and rattling the gate.
Alun, 52, ran into the bathroom and found Emma with no pulse and not breathing - but incredibly after six rounds of CPR, he was able to restart her heart.
Emma Evans says her three-year-old daughter Amelia (pictured together) saved her life after she suffered a seizure
Pictures taken after Emma's seizure show her with purple-coloured bruising underneath her eyes after blood vessels burst in her face
After spending five days in the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, Emma was sent home with strict instructions to rest.
Now she says her toddler is the reason she's alive today and believes if anything had happened differently, she wouldn't have survived.
Mother-of-one Emma, an operating department practitioner, said: 'My husband bought me back to life but if my daughter hadn't said anything or wasn't in room then I wouldn't be here now - it would be a completely different story.
'While he was doing chest compressions, she had her little wand and was waving it above my head saying: "Wake up mummy".
'I've not really been able to go in the bathroom since, it's been really hard.
'I feel like if there was any part of that situation different it would have ended differently.
'My husband was away the week before and my daughter usually plays in her bedroom while I run her a bath - it was obviously not my time to go.'
Emma was running Amelia a bath when the seizure happened and says the last thing she remembers is her little girl asking her to 'spin around like a princess'.
Emma spent five days in the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend (pictured in hospital after the seizure)
She was found in the bath by her husband Alun (left) and 'had turned blue' after Amelia raised the alarm
Amelia saved Emma's life by shouting 'mummy pinched my bath', which raised the alarm for Alun
Emma - who was diagnosed with epilepsy aged 22 - says she believes she had a seizure before falling against the door and then into the bath.
Pictures taken after her seizure show her with purple-coloured bruising underneath her eyes after blood vessels burst in her face.
Previous seizures have left her with a serious head injury, a broken nose and broken teeth.
Amelia shouted for Alun who came running into the room and Emma says he described her as underwater and 'navy blue', with no pulse and not breathing.
Alun said: 'She was slumped over the side of the bath with her head and shoulders completely submerged. I pulled Emma out of the bath and she was navy blue.
'She wasn't breathing and her eyes were wide open and glazed.'
He pulled her out the water and gave two rescue breaths before starting chest compressions - and incredibly after six rounds of CPR bought her pulse and breathing back before paramedics arrived.
She was rushed to hospital and kept in for five nights before being released.
Emma amazingly was able to regain consciousness after six rounds of CPR
Emma has now made a full recovery but says the experience has left her shaken up and she finds it hard to go back into the bathroom
Emma wants to continue to teach Amelia what to do during a seizure and is encouraging others to learn CPR and first aid
What is epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a condition that affects the brain and leaves patients at risk of seizures.
Around one in 100 people in the UK have epilepsy, Epilepsy Society statistics reveal.
And in the US, 1.2 per cent of the population have the condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Anyone can have a seizure, which does not automatically mean they have epilepsy.
Usually more than one episode is required before a diagnosis.
Seizures occur when there is a sudden burst of electrical activity in the brain, which causes a disruption to the way it works.
Some seizures cause people to remain alert and aware of their surroundings, while others make people lose consciousness.
Some also make patients experience unusual sensations, feelings or movement, or go stiff and fall to the floor where they jerk.
Epilepsy can be brought on at any age by a stroke, brain infection, head injury or problems at birth that lead to lack of oxygen.
But in more than half of cases, a cause is never found.
Anti-epileptic drugs do not cure the condition but help to stop or reduce seizures.
If these do not work, brain surgery can be effective.
Source: Epilepsy Action
AdvertisementDespite having made a full recovery, Emma says the experience shook her up and has left her feeling incredibly lucky.
She believes without her daughter calling for help and her husband's CPR knowledge, she wouldn't have survived.
Now Emma wants to continue to teach Amelia what to do during a seizure and is encouraging others to learn CPR and first aid.
'CPR and first aid are not difficult to learn - it's something that should be common knowledge,' Emma said.
'It's been a traumatic experience - I'm still recovering from basically dying.
'As Amelia gets older my husband will be teaching her CPR and first aid and we'll teach her the basics of what to do during a seizure as she's getting older too.
'I'm still just in disbelief, it was her actions that saved me, I just feel like given her age she's gone above and beyond.'
Epilepsy is a condition that affects the brain and leaves patients at risk of seizures, which occur when there is a sudden burst of electrical activity in the brain.
While some seizures make people more alert and aware of their surroundings, it can cause others to lose consciousness or experience unusual sensations, such as going stiff and falling to the floor.
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