Maidstone Hospital patient suffers 56 mystery seizures in a day
10:00, 16 August 2019
updated: 12:20, 16 August 2019
The family of a man who suffered 56 seizures in a day are desperate to find a cause of the mystery attacks.
Mary Cash’s son Patrick was in Maidstone Hospital for more than two weeks, experiencing many regular convulsions.
The worst day saw him have 56 in 24 hours and at points the episodes were less than two minutes apart.
Paddy, as he is known by his loved ones, and his family are part of a traveller community currently living in Headcorn.
The cause of his condition is still not known and the 30-year-old has now been sent to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital for a specialist scan to investigate further.
Speaking about her son’s time at Maidstone Hospital, Mrs Cash said: “He was getting worse, he deteriorated in front of my eyes.
“He said to me: ‘I can’t take it anymore, I’m going to have a stroke.’ I just want to help him.”
Despite several visits to doctors surgeries and hospitals around the country, medical professionals are still unable to find the cause of his fits.
His mother said six months ago Paddy’s hand started shaking but he was sent away by doctors who told him to come back in a couple of weeks if the trouble persisted. His condition continued and began to worsen until he was eventually admitted to hospital in Canterbury for a month, but doctors could not figure out the cause and he was discharged.
On July 21 he was admitted to Maidstone and remained there until last Friday.
His family say they have watched him lose three stone and he can now barely get his breath before the next seizure. Sadly his girlfriend, who he was planning to settle down with, ended their relationship as she couldn’t cope. Mrs Cash said in recent days her son can no longer talk properly.
“He’s going to end up dead. The body can only take so much.”
It is not clear yet if he has suffered from any brain damage. The family believe he should have been moved sooner.
A spokesman at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said: “We work closely with other hospitals to ensure transfers for specialist care take place as quickly as possible and when it is clinically safe and appropriate to do so.
"We are sorry for any distress caused at this upsetting time.”
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