TWENTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD Ashleigh Harris, a recent graduate of The University of the West Indies (UWI) who suffers from a type of epilepsy disorder known as catamenial epilepsy (CE), is encouraging Jamaicans with the disease to persevere and work towards their dreams.

Catamenial epilepsy, also known as menstrual seizures, is linked to a woman’s menstrual cycle and related hormone levels in the body.

Women with CE often have more seizures during certain times of their cycle — just before or during menstruation or during ovulation (the time during the cycle when an egg moves from the ovary and can be fertilised).

Harris, who was officially diagnosed with the disease at age 14, says that to her epilepsy is just a “bump in the road” and not the entire journey; and even though going to school and having the disorder was quite a hard task at times, she persevered and completed her tertiary education with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science with upper second class honours.

“In 2014 I graduated from Ardenne High School and was unable to start university right after because I was really, really sick, as we [family members and herself] did not find any medication that was controlling the seizures.

“I was having up to eight or nine seizures a day and it was a depressing time. I was just in bed all day — for months at a time,” she said.

Harris says that after battling with the disorder for some time, she decided one day that she would not let it hinder her any longer.

“I remember getting up one day and telling my mom, ‘Mommy, I don’t want this kind of life. I don’t want to be stuck here’. The seizures were down to a minimum a day or sometimes I wouldn’t have any, and I told my parents I couldn’t stay at home. I told them I would apply for university and I ended up applying to be a part of the Biochemistry Department at The UWI because I had this goal of doing something that would change the whole sphere of how epilepsy was seen. Medicine was a part of my plan in the long run and I started the programme in 2015 — but it just wasn’t working for me. I ended up switching faculties and went into social sciences where I then pursued political science,” she said.

Harris told the Jamaica Observer that there were times when she had seizures and was completely humiliated, but she still did not let that stop her from actualising her dreams.

“Epilepsy can be very disheartening and it’s quite embarrassing. It can make you feel a bit less than a human being. However, someone who has epilepsy needs to understand that it’s not the end of the world. You might have a little stumble on the road but it’s up to you to create this mindset that you can do whatever you put your mind towards. I decided that every challenge I was faced with, I would run towards it head first, and work harder than everybody else to get where I needed to be,” she said.

She said in 2018 she decided that she wanted to do several things, and asked God for guidance.

“I was able to represent my hall at The UWI on television for a fund-raising programme I had started. I was also able to receive a scholarship to go on an exchange programme at the University of Winnipeg in Canada, and I spent five great months in Canada and left with four A’s,” she beamed.

Harris said that even on the last lap of her exams at The UWI, she had challenges, but her eagerness to succeed brought her through.

“Even this year, the night before my final exam, I was at the hospital and I left straight from the hospital to school. I received an A in that course!”

For Jamaicans she has a message: “No matter what happens, push through it —you are no less than anybody else. You are worth everything and you deserve to get everything in the world.”

She added: “There were times when I cried after having a seizure because it was in the middle of a presentation or it was the night before an exam. But I decided that I would not let that hold me back,” she said.

Harris also credits her success to having a strong support system of persons who helped her from the start to end, and this she says made everything much easier.