Joshua Danoff

Age: 10
Grade: 6
Market: Reisterstown, Maryland

Joshua Danoff hasn’t had a seizure in a few years until recently. The only thing that differentiates him from other children his age is the scar he now sports from the brain surgery he underwent when he was seven—after living through five years of seizures. He still regularly gets MRI’s and checkups, but he has adjusted to fact that his seizures have reoccurred.

“I’ve learned a lot of things with my experience with epilepsy,” Joshua said. “When I am having a seizure, it doesn’t hurt. In fact, I don’t feel it at all. I do see dots with blurry things around them during a seizure and I can hear a muffled sound.”

Things certainly seem to be looking up for this young man, but even though his seizures return, his parents know that, because of their past experience, they’ll make it through OK.

“Kids should not be scared of other kids who have epilepsy,” Joshua said. “Kids with epilepsy are normal, except they will have seizures every so often. I had seizures until I had surgery when I was seven. I was a normal kid at school, and even skipped a grade because I was so smart. Epilepsy does not affect how smart a kid is.”