A trip to the supermarket for Rotorua mother of four Jacqui Acutt last month ended badly for her and her 16-year-old daughter Sarah, but Jacqui says she is overwhelmed at the support she received from strangers.
Jacqui was diagnosed around seven years ago with a condition called basilar migraines, a neurological condition that causes a disturbance in the brainstem or lower part of the brain.
Jacqui says she can suffer from a variety of symptoms such as dizziness, double vision, loss of speech and temporary paralysis, but this was the first time she has ever had a turn in public.
"I never know when they're going to hit, and it was around 1pm on Friday, July 3, when my daughter Sarah and I went to Pak'nSave. We were just going to do some shopping, and not long after I got in there I started to feel unwell and the migraine just suddenly came on.
"I collapsed in the supermarket by the freezer section and had a seizure-like episode. I was paralysed and I couldn't talk. Sarah was obviously very frightened, but the people in Pak'nSave, workers and customers, came to help us," she says.