Laura Hume and her daughter, Yuna, with some of their epilepsy awareness rocks.
Laura Hume and her daughter, Yuna, with some of their epilepsy awareness rocks.
Laura Hume is using pots of purple paint and the pulling power of Palmy Rocks to raise awareness about epilepsy.
Laura was 5 when she was diagnosed with epilepsy after both her mother and a teacher noticed something was wrong. Laura would be listening then suddenly lose concentration as her brain momentarily stopped.
When Laura has a seizure it looks like she is ignoring those around her and when the seizure stops she will be temporarily confused about what happened just before.
Medication has reduced the number of seizures she has each day from 80-100 to 10. The state of her health, stress, tiredness and medication changes can make her seizures better or worse.
"It's a very sensitive condition I've found," the Palmerston North woman says.
Epilepsy isn't the only health condition Laura juggles while working, studying and being a mother to daughter Yuna, 5.
When Laura was 9 a benign tumour the size of a golf ball was removed from her leg and she developed a blood bone infection. She now lives with the chronic pain that developed and the 28-year-old also has fibromyalgia.
"I've had a fun life medically."
Laura is a contractor for disability information and advice service People First, translating information into easy-read materials through the use of pictures, simplified sentences and one subject per page.
"It's really simplified to make it easy to understand. It's a great job, I really enjoy it."
She has a diploma in creative writing from Massey University and is now doing a bachelor of arts in psychology with a minor in marketing. Her ultimate goal is to be a clinical psychologist.
Laura says her mother, Julie Woodhouse, has fought for her in every regard and if others weren't listening to her Julie would. "She's been my advocate for as long as I can remember."
When Laura was 10 she appeared on the children's television programme What Now to talk about epilepsy. She's grateful to a teacher she had who explained to Laura's classmates she was like a computer that was restarting and that she wasn't active during that time.
Epilepsy New Zealand's educational character Niggle, with its distinctive purple hair, appears on some of Laura's stones. Niggle explains what seizures are in ways children can understand.
Laura says there is so much stigma around epilepsy.
"Growing up with epilepsy I faced a lot of stigma so I've ended up pushing for more awareness and advocacy through my years."
While some types of seizures can be fatal, this doesn't mean people with epilepsy cannot live relatively normal lives.
"It would be nice for people to try to understand and not immediately judge us, thinking that you can't live a proper life, you can't have kids."
She's had several people from conservative church circles suggest she is possessed by demons.
"That was horrible ... that's Salem witch trials stigma. It's something that shouldn't still be suggested but it is."
Some of Laura Hume's epilepsy rocks she is using to raise awareness about the brain disorder.
Yuna, 5, helps her mum paint the purple rocks and hide them at Victoria Esplanade. Yuna also learnt if her mum has a seizure there's no need to freak out.
"She deals really well with me and my health issues," Laura says.
She is not allowed to drive but is entitled to a mobility parking permit when people are giving her a ride. She's been yelled at - "you're not disabled" - and sworn at.
"When people can't see something physically there's a lot of judgement," she says.
"Just because it can't be seen it doesn't mean it is not there."
Laura's house is filled with arts and crafts materials and Yuna enjoys coming up with her own Palmy rocks designs.
"We make as much fun out of life as possible. There's no point being sad about being sick, I learnt that very early on."
EPILEPSY FACTS Epilepsy is a neurological disorder affecting 1-2 per cent of New Zealanders.
Anybody of any age can develop epilepsy.
Epilepsy is defined as a tendency to have recurrent seizures (sometimes called fits).
A seizure is a sudden burst of uncontrolled or erratic electrical and chemical activity in the brain causing a temporary disruption of the brain's normal function.
