Despite only being 11, Armadale girl Misti Polmear has big plans to rid the world of epilepsy.
After living with epilepsy since the age of four, she wants no more people to suffer from the condition.
Misti decided to raise money for the Epilepsy Foundation online and at a family fun day at her parents’ Armadale furniture business on International Epilepsy Awareness Purple Day this Saturday.
Misti said she didn’t like having epilepsy but worried more for younger children having to grow up with it.
“It’s scary and it worries me when I go to friends’ houses and stay up late to watch movies because I’m scared that I’m going to have one,” she said.
“I can’t imagine how bad it would be for younger kids to have it because it’s horrible for me.”
Her mum Nicole Polmear said epilepsy had a massive impact on Misti’s life.
“She was four when we found out she had it, she had a seizure in the middle of the night, she couldn’t move her neck or half her body or her eyes and she couldn’t talk properly so we rushed her to the hospital,” she said. “After the tests and everything we found out she had epilepsy and it kept on from there.
“She actually has mostly nocturnal epilepsy so it affects her in the way that she doesn’t get a good sleep a lot of the time.
“Overtiredness is a trigger and also over heating so we have to manage those sorts of things.”
Ms Polmear said Misti’s condition placed a lot of limits on her life and she wanted to make sure no one had to experience what she had. “It’s hard for her to have sleep overs with friends and when she was in year three we made the decision to switch her to home schooling,” she said.
“She was struggling so much at school, just being so tired and nervous about having seizures.
“She’s not allowed to swim alone, not allowed to climb alone, we have to keep an eye on that.
“The seizures are pretty bad so it’s not something that someone else can just manage, unless they know us well and what to do in the event of one.”
The fun day will be held at Altruist Furnishings, 23 William Street, Armadale and will feature activities, a facebook competition and a silent auction.
Entry is by donation and Misti hopes to raise $400.
To donate visit purpleday2016.everydayhero.com/au/misti.
