DIALLO

I was in a motor vehicle accident from which I got a brain injury. It was after my accident that the seizures started to come.

I was moving out, I had my job, and I had saved up. I had done what I needed, and then the accident came. It has changed going out on my own – it’s not a very safe thing to do. My plans have changed. The way I go about doing things has changed. You know, it takes a little more effort than before to do everything, it takes more concentration. Even when I concentrate on it, I might forget. That is why I need reminders and stuff. And that is why my family is not in a hurry for me to go anywhere.

Two or three years ago I went back to Jamaica. I was born and grew up there. I lived there for 26 years. Even there, there’s a loss of independence, which is annoying sometimes. I do find that I get lost a little easier than before. So I went everywhere with my family, but I still had a good time in any case; a good Jamaican ol’ time. 

I love to travel. There’s lots of places I’d like to go to. Trinidad is one of them – I want to go for their Carnival because I’m hearing that it is better than the one here. That’s one place; there are places in Europe and definitely African places, like Ghana and Ethiopia. Those are a few places I’d like to travel to, which I’m figuring out how I can do that.

I come to Epilepsy Toronto to learn different ways from different people to cope with it. I’m trying to be mindful of my medication times, because if that gets messed up, it won’t work. I come here to exercise the brain. We do stuff that exercises the brain, sometimes we go places and experience things. All of these things help, and it takes the mind off the situation – I don’t want to say sickness – but situation. 

#SeeThePerson

* stories have been condensed and edited