Famous people with epilepsy:
Introduction
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that takes the form of recurring non-convulsive or convulsive seizures.
It affects each person differently. Some people have only a few seizures. It is estimated that around 50 percent of people who have one seizure go on to have more seizures.
According to the National Institutes of Health, between 1.5% and 5.0% of people in the US have a seizure at some point in their life.
Over 80 percent of suferrers with epilepsy live in low- and middle-income countries. Also, more than 51 million people worldwide have epilepsy.
There are a few factors that can make an individual more likely to develop epilepsy. They include the following:
- poisoning, such as alcohol or lead poisoning, or drug abuse;
- strokes;
- brain tumors;
- encephalitis;
- meningitis;
- lack of oxygen to an infant’s brain during childbirth;
- brain injury.
List Of 13 Famous People With Epilepsy:
#1 Prince
© Getty Images
Prince was an American actor, dancer, musician, and songwriter, who won multiple Grammy Awards for the hit song “Purple Rain,” including Best Soundtrack and Best Performance. In addition, he released 10 platinum-selling albums.
During an interview, Prince said:
“I’ve never spoken about this before, but I was born epileptic and I used to have seizures when I was young.”
#2 Susan Boyle
Boyle is a Scottish singer who released the debut album titled – ”I Dreamed a Dream” in 2009. The album became the UK’s best-selling debut album in history.
She said:
“All through my childhood, they’d say epilepsy is to do with mental function. And now I realize it’s not.”
#3 Hugo Weaving
Weaving is an English-Australian actor who starred as antagonist Agent Smith in the Matrix Trilogy. He also starred as Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, in the ”Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
At age 13, Hugo was diagnosed with epilepsy. During an interview, Hugo said:
”I was diagnosed as epileptic when I was 13 and had seizures once a year until my 40s.”
Weaving later added:
”Then they just stopped. With every fit, my last thought was always: I’m dying.”
#4 Lauren Pritchard
Pritchard is an American singer who released her debut album, named – ”Wasted in Jackson,” in 2010. She once said:
“I’m epileptic and it’s very important for me to spread the word about this.”
#5 Adam Horovitz
Horovitz is an American musician who is best known as the guitarist for the hip hop band ”Beastie Boys.”
He has epilepsy and even experienced a grand mal seizure.
#6 Alan Faneca
Faneca is a former professional American football player who won a Super Bowl title with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006. He is a nine-time All-Pro offensive guard as well as a nine-time Pro Bowler.
Faneca had the first epileptic seizure at age 15 that had just jolted him out of his sleep on Christmas Eve. Alan confessed:
“It just felt like a nightmare. I was upset and crying and it just really felt like a really bad nightmare. I didn’t know what was going on.”
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#7 Danny Glover
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Glover is an American actor who performed as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the ”Lethal Weapon” series alongside Mel Gibson.
He has epilepsy and regularly suffered from seizures.
#8 Amy Lee
Lee is an American singer who fronts the rock band Evanescence, the group known for their debut single entitled – “Bring Me To Life.”
Amy has epilepsy and she often advocates for awareness of the disorder. She said:
”People freak out if someone is having a seizure. They think there’s something wrong with them or they’re on drugs.”
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#9 Neil Young
Young is a Canadian singer-songwriter who was diagnosed with epilepsy in his childhood. He declared:
“Epilepsy is something nobody knows much about.”
Neil continued:
”It’s just part of me. Part of my head, part of what’s happening in there.”
#10 Elton John
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He is an English singer who has sold more than 250 million albums in a career that has spanned over five decades.
It is thought that his epilepsy was induced by Elton’s years of drug use.
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#11 Jason Snelling
Snelling is a former American football running back who was diagnosed with epilepsy while in college.
During a recent interview, Jason confessed:
”It took a long time for the doctors to diagnose me because not all seizures are due to epilepsy.”
Snelling went on to say:
”It could have been a seizure disorder that was caused by something else. In my case, it did turn out to be epilepsy.”
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#12 Dai Greene
He is a Welsh hurdler who competed internationally for both Great Britain and Wales.
Greene was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 17.
He declared:
“Because my brother Darren also suffers from it. But they were fine once I discussed it with my specialist who agreed to me coming off medication because I’d changed my lifestyle dramatically.”
Greene also said:
”I was no longer drinking and so I was confident I wouldn’t put myself in a scenario where I’d have another seizure. I very rarely drink alcohol now.”
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#13 Lil Wayne
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Wayne is an American rapper who has epilepsy. The artist said that he doesn’t know what it feels like to have a seizure since he blacks out. He also said that he suffers seizures because of a lack of rest, stress, and overworking himself.
In 2013, Wayne was admitted to an intensive care unit in LA after enduring what Lil later described as life-threatening seizures.
Later, the rapper confessed:
“Like, this isn’t my first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh seizure. I’ve had a bunch of seizures, y’all just never hear about them.”
Wayne continued:
“But this time it got real bad ’cause I had three of them in a row and on the third one, my heart rate went down to like 30 percent. Basically, I could’ve died, so that is why it was so serious.”
In 2016, after Wayne suffered multiple seizures, his private jet had to make an emergency landing.
In the follow-up year, he was hospitalized in Chicago after he suffered an epileptic seizure. At the hospital, Lil suffered a second seizure.
Featured image credit – Getty Images
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References https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4448698/ https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/epilepsy-and-sleep https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/epilepsy