MAGS Humphries traces her epilepsy to a bad fall in an ice rink which left her concussed for several days, and which she thinks also affected her eyesight. It manifested itself in the form of fainting: at the height of her epilepsy, Mags, who runs the Assets model agency, was fainting once or twice a week. Now, she is rarely troubled.
At the time her fainting was diagnosed as epilepsy, she was friendly with, several students from the College of Surgeons, who told her it "wasn't a big deal". "I was never worried about it," she says. Over the years, and without medication, her epilepsy has faded to the point where she only faints "now, and then". "It appears if I am in a club with very strong lights. I will know then I have to leave.
Mugs treats her epilepsy with equanimity. "A lot of my close friends know I am epileptic, but it's not something ,you discuss every day ... it's something you have to get on with," she says. "But I do think people should talk about epilepsy." She remembers as a teenager witnessing a severe epileptic fit at a Don McLean concert. "The girl's friends knew what to do and she was fine," she says, "but if they hadn't known or if they had panicked ... I think people should know, and I think it's very important to carry a card saying you are epileptic."
FOR, Sarah Kelly, epilepsy has been a ruling fact of life since she was seven weeks old. Only now, with Sarah - aged seven, is her epilepsy stabilised and Sarah, who has learning difficulties, is settling at school at St John Of Gods in Dublin.
Life for Sarah's mother, Deirdre, was initially full of panic flights back from business trips - Deirdre remembers one particularly, when she abandoned her luggage in a Greek hotel and took three flights to get home to Dublin - and then of days divided between work and hospital, where Sarah's epilepsy was, once again, being stabilised.
At this point, Sarah was being hospitalised about five times a year, whenever - her "grand mal" fits became very frequent - 12 to 20 a day, or lasting longer than usual.
Deirdre, who runs the A Wear clothing company, now has a full time "miracle nanny", who is part of the family, for Sarah and her sister, Rachel, and with the help of Prof Joe McMenamin at Crumlin Hospital - "it's a team, effort" - they are now managing Sarah's epilepsy, using a combination of three different anti epileptic drugs. "She,has attacks more infrequently, but there's no magic cure," Deirdre explains. "A few years ago we would have run to the hospital but now we try to manage it ourselves.
"Every mother wants an answer - but there just isn't one," she says.
"People can be very scared, but the fits are not that frightening," she says. "They only last 10-15 seconds. Then Sarah sleeps for a while and she's fine. Once people have seen one fit and know what to do - just put her on her side, nothing else - they are fine. My nephews and nieces babysit and it doesn't bother them at all."
Deirdre Kelly's experiences with Sarah led her to set up a charity, Angel's Quest, which arranges respite care, allowing parents of mentally handicapped children a much needed break.