Hero boy, 9, saved brother who became 'trapped between a wall and radiator' during epileptic seizure

A nine-year-old boy has been awarded for his incredible bravery after saving his teenage brother during a seizure. Nathan Swift was at home in Wigan with his mum Wendy and brother Joseph, who became “trapped between a wall and radiator” during an “unexpected” seizure.

Joseph, 13, had his first febrile seizure when he was just eight months old due to an illness which the medical team had advised they were temperature-related, Wendy recalled. Two years later, Joseph was diagnosed with a specific type of epilepsy called Jeavons syndrome.

“As he grew into a toddler, I noticed sometimes his eyes would flicker upward quickly and his head would ‘wobble’ slightly. The paediatric team referred him to have a short EEG to investigate, which showed nothing at the time. However, the ‘eye flickers’, and what we now know were absence seizures, were eventually picked up on a 24-hour EEG,” she said.

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Joseph now experiences tonic-clonic seizures (stiffening and twitching or jerking of a person's muscles) as a symptom of Jeavons syndrome which are very unpredictable, and has around 30 to 40 myoclonic seizures (a quick, uncontrollable muscle movement with no change in your level of awareness or consciousness) a day, despite being on three different medications.

As Joseph got older, he has become more aware of the impact of epilepsy on his day-to-day life. Because his tonic-clonic seizures can be unpredictable, he can’t be left alone.

He really enjoys school, but sometimes is very tired and in pain after he has a seizure, so ends up missing some school