TV Anchorwoman Bravely Faces Life-Long Dream

By Sylvia Blair

In spite of her epilepsy, Kim Chapman is living her dream of being a broadcast journalist.

As co-anchor for WTVC-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Kim Chapman is living a life-long dream.

She realizes her dream makes her proud because she also has epilepsy.

Every day, she bravely faces the possibility that she could have a seizure in front of thousands of viewers.

But that doesn't bother her. As long as she takes her medicine every day and gets enough sleep, everything is fine, Chapman says.

A Seizure During a Critical Moment

Despite these preventative steps, the unthinkable - a breakthrough seizure - actually happened. Although Chapman wasn't in front of a camera, she had the seizure at a very sensitive moment.

The day she went to the television station for her job interview, she waited patiently to talk with the next interviewer. Suddenly, in front of station management, she went into a tonic clonic seizure. She woke up to find paramedics all around her.

Luckily, station managers were understanding about her epilepsy. That's because she had worked at the station before and had already explained her condition to them.

"I guess I didn't sleep at all the night before the interview because I wanted the job so much. Lack of sleep triggers seizures for me. I was embarrassed about the seizure, but everyone was very helpful and kind," she says.

Co-anchor on the Evening News

Chapman was later hired as co-anchor on the evening news. She credits her openness about epilepsy for helping to smooth over a potentially difficult situation.

"It's important that everyone knows about epilepsy. I love my career and if I can use it as a platform to educate others, I will," says the broadcast journalist, whose career spans 12 years in five different markets.

When not in front of a television camera, Chapman spends much of her time volunteering for the Epilepsy Foundation.

Recent Board Member of Epilepsy Foundation

She was one of five women featured in the Epilepsy Foundation's national Women and Epilepsy Initiative. She has appeared on a nationally syndicated talk show about women's health, and most recently, became a member of the Board of Directors of the Epilepsy Foundation.

On the local level, she assists with fundraisers for the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chattanooga and is a frequent speaker at epilepsy events.

Chapman has come a long way since she was first diagnosed with absence seizures as a fifth grader in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

She says her parents never let her use epilepsy as a crutch. For example, they encouraged her to participate in sports in junior and senior high school, particularly in track.

"Mom and dad never batted an eye about my epilepsy," Chapman says. "I thank them for raising me that way."

Return to between us Frontpage

View the Current Issue of between us