Cataclysmic Events: You Never Know When

Cataclysmic events shock us, as we never see them coming. This past week, 49 school children in Assuit, Egypt died in a bus, as a train collided with it. My heart breaks thinking about their last moments on this Earth, and the devastation that all of their families are going through. They were putting their children on that bus, just like so many of us around the world do everyday, expecting their boy or girl to get a decent education. A mom put an apple in that bag, a Dad kissed his daughter goodbye at the bus stop, having no idea that this would be his last opportunity. Tragedy strikes when least expected, and while its going to take time for the Egyptian Authorities to figure out what went wrong, there are lives ruined forever. These parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and friends are going to be entering a challenge that they never foresaw.

Dreams ended with that impact. The same could be said for seizures, that have crushed those of children and adults who have epilepsy. Just like the power of a freight train, they have taken far too many kids away from their parents, or too many adults living productive lives away from us. Well over 100,000 people die a year from epilepsy. I don't have the exact figures, but 1/2 of that number is in the USA alone. A father, a mother, son, daughter, or friend gone. It is morally reprehensible, that only .5% of medical research funded by the US Government, is devoted to epilepsy research, when roughly 5% of the population contends with it at one point of their life. More people have epilepsy, and die from it, than so many other conditions that get a whole lot more funding.

The epilepsy community across the world,  has been railroaded, and its time that we climb from the caboose to the engine. I am proud of organizations and researchers, that are working around the clock for that cure. True, there are many different types of seizures, whether people are born with them, or experience them after sports or combat trauma. There are so many triggers for seizures, and these can cause the brain to get the irregular signals associated with epilepsy. Far too many parents have had to suffer the heartbreak, of hearing their child died from a seizure, found their little on in their beds unresponsive, or had to make the toughest choice of all by pulling life support. Each of these lives are valued, and all of those lost are dearly missed. There are people around us, I am one of them, who has the scars of a child lost. True you might not be able to see them, but they are always there, as each and everyday I wake up knowing my Tommy is no longer with our family.

This train wreck hit home. While I cannot say that I've had to suffer like these parents in Egypt, I understand a bit about the road that they are going to face. Especially the "if only's". There are so many grieving moms and dads, and my prayers have been with them, since this awful tragedy. They are going through a living hell, and all of us should be thinking about these folks, who just a few minutes ago had seen their children alive and well. الكثير من الحب وكثير من الصلوات لأسر، والمشاركة في مأساة قطار المصرية.