attacks at any time, how this patient learned to “live with it”

Epilepsy affects approximately 1% of the population and seizures can take different forms. Bernard Sicre does not have convulsions but the illness has caused him discrimination, including expulsion from his school. However, he learned to live with it. France 3 Occitanie met him.

With his sneakers, Bernard Sicre runs in the Lemasson district in Montpellier. At 65, he never lacks energy.

Bernard, a lifelong Montpellier resident, has suffered from epilepsy since he was 18, following a serious motorcycle accident. He shares his experience with this disease with France 3 Occitanie.

“I had an absence, so I moved a limb. The movement of the limb corresponds to damage to the brain“, he explains, pointing to his foot. He didn’t have any convulsions.”Contrary to what people imagine, there are different forms of epilepsy. For me, it was partial seizures, which represent 75% of epilepsies.“

Thanks to appropriate medical treatment, this former liberal nurse leads a normal life. His last seizures were in 2006. At the time, they could occur at any time.

Although he always knew “to live with“, the diagnosis caused him discrimination. For example, he was expelled from his school when the disease manifested itself.

In the collective imagination, epilepsy means the person who will fall to the ground, who has problems, who is not balanced.

Today he emphasizes the importance of sport as support in the face of illness: “I have always played sports, even sports studies. It helped me a lot in recovering. It is a source of balance, which allows you to live better and to have morale.“

In France, epilepsy affects 600,000 people, or nearly 1% of the population, according to Inserm.