My name is Irati. I'm 25 years old and I come from the Basque country in the north of Spain and south of France.Me llamo Irati. Tengo 25 años y soy del País Vasco, situado en el norte de España y sur de Francia.
I was diagnosed with epilepsy about two years ago. I went to summer camp with some of my friends. I was going through a very tough moment, a lot of pressure with work. It was a difficult time, and I had a seizure in the middle of the camp. It was the first time that I was aware that something was happening to me. A friend of mine was a vet, and he told me “make sure you go and see a doctor and talk to them about what has happened to you”.
Me diagnosticaron epilepsia hace como dos años. Estaba de campamentos con algunos amigos. Era un momento complicado para mí, tenía mucha presión laboral. Era un momento difícil, y tuve un ataque epiléptico durante el campamento. Era la primera vez que algo similar me sucedía. Uno de mis amigos, siendo veterinario, me dijo “asegúrate de hablar con un médico sobre lo que te ha pasado”.
After that, I started analysing what happened to me, and I realized I had had another seizure before, which was when I was home alone. That's one of the situations in which you don't actually know what has happened to you, you just wake up in a very weird situation and that’s all.
Después de aquello, rememorando lo que me había sucedido, me di cuenta de que había tenido otro ataque epiléptico en el pasado, cuando estaba sola en casa. Era una de esas situaciones en el que no sabes lo que pasó, me desperté en una situación un tanto rara, y eso fue todo.
Once I was diagnosed with epilepsy, I started taking medication and fortunately it has worked very well for me. And I've been stable since then and I'm very happy with it.
Una vez que me diagnosticaron epilepsia empecé mi medicamento y afortunadamente ha funcionado muy bien para mí. No he tenido ningún ataque desde entonces, y soy feliz.
I would say that being diagnosed with epilepsy has definitely opened my eyes in terms of how we present ourselves, how we are perceived by other people. And I've had very interesting conversations when I've disclosed. I've told people that I have a disability and they were like “What? How? No!”.
Diría que el diagnóstico me ha abierto los ojos con respecto a cómo nos presentamos a otras personas, cómo nos perciben. He tenido conversaciones muy interesantes cuando he revelado mi condición. Cuando cuento que tengo una discapacidad, la reacción en general ha sido “¿Qué? ¿Cómo? ¡No!”,
Definitely epilepsy is something that has added a lot of value into my HR professional career. I know I have learned a lot and I know that now I have the capabilities to empathise more with people who have many different types of disabilities. It's definitely something that will help me in my professional career.
Sin lugar a duda, la epilepsia es algo que ha añadido mucho valor en mi carrera de RRHH. He aprendido muchísimo y sé que ahora tengo las habilidades para empatizar con otras personas que tienen diferentes tipos de discapacidades. Es algo que indudablemente me ayudará en mi carrera profesional.
If you don't take the time to look, you won't see what’s inside.
Si no tomas el tiempo para mirar, no verás lo que hay dentro.
#SeethePerson
*stories have been condensed and edited
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