Alyssa A. Parrish

Age: 14
Grade: 9
Market: Grove City, Ohio

Alyssa Parrish is an active and optimistic young woman whose father also has epilepsy. Their entire family participates in Epilepsy Foundation fundraising and awareness activities, while Alyssa also enjoys golfing and other sports.

Alyssa was diagnosed with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy during the summer of 2003. She has had a many different types of seizures, and has used a variety of different treatment programs, including a recently implanted VNS implant, to help control her seizures. She is especially concerned about epilepsy awareness because of the trials and tribulations both she and her father have had to face. Her father, who was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2004, has a history of epilepsy in his family, yet they were never told that epilepsy could be genetically transmitted.

“What I would like other people to know about kids with epilepsy is that they’re just normal kids. They live perfectly normal lives, but just a little differently,” Alyssa said. When her father asked her how she can remain so upbeat despite all the problems she’s faced, Alyssa replied, “God knows who can handle it. He picked us because we’re strong enough to handle the adversity.”