Woman Wakes From Severe Seizure To Find Two Men Laughing And Filming Her

A young woman woke from a severe epileptic fit to find two laughing men filming her ordeal on their mobile phones.

Maggie O’Connor, 26, was walking her dog Dillion in the grounds of a priory when she felt a seizure coming on.

As she came round from the fit she realised two strangers were standing over her. Instead of offering her help the men were laughing because Maggie had bitten her tongue and was bleeding.

One of the pair took a close-up shot – coming within inches of her face – before running away shouting “she fking p**d herself, ha.”

Maggie said: “With a seizure, you can wet yourself and bite your tongue and these were the two facts that they seemed to find most hilarious as I had wet myself and I had blood down my front.

“They continued filming whilst I was awake and conscious but because of the seizure I was in a really vulnerable position.

“There was nothing I could do – my legs were too jelly to move and I could not string a proper sentence together. So I just had to sit there whilst they tried to humiliate me by videoing me.

“I could hear them saying “look at her face. I can’t believe she’s p**d herself – she’s all wet.

“Looking back I feel really cross but at the time I was too confused to feel anything. It scares me to think what they would have done if my dog wasn’t there.”

Maggie, who has had epilepsy since she was 16, suffered the fit while walking in the grounds of St Botolph’s Priory in Colchester, Essex.

She says several passers-by failed to come to her aid and the men only left when Staffordshire Bull Terrier Dillion started growling.

Maggie has seizures approximately every two weeks and is left almost completely incapacitated for around four to five minutes.

She had to wait 15 minutes before her memory returned fully and she could contact her family for help. The hairdresser, of Colchester, bravely wrote about her experience on Facebook in a bid to name and shame the two men.

She says the pair were both white, aged in their early 20s and wore skinny jeans and T-shirts. Maggie says one of the pair was tanned and had his hair in a bun or topknot, with the sides shaved.

The appeal has been shared more than 3,000 times but Essex Police say they won’t be investigating the unsavoury incident on Saturday morning. A spokeswoman said: “No criminal offence has been committed.”

Maggie added: “Although it’s a disgusting thing they have done I understand why it’s not illegal. I originally wanted to find their names so they could be publicly shamed.

“But now I’m not really that fussed because I think they will definitely have seen the story on the news. They will feel ashamed and probably regret what they have done. That’s punishment enough for me.”

Maggie, who lives with partner Nathan Skipper, 24, is hoping to use her ordeal to raise awareness about epilepsy.

Stacey Rennard, spokeswoman for charity Epilepsy Action, said about 600,000 people in the UK gave the .

There are about 40 different kinds of seizures and ‘some are easier to recognise than others’.

Ms Rennard added: “In Maggie’s case, it was very upsetting to hear she was in a vulnerable position and sustained an injury and still people didn’t stop and help her.”

She said the charity hears about a wide variety of experiences.

“Some good, and some bad, like in this horrible case. But we do hear from people who’ve come across the good Samaritans who’ve sat and waited with them while they recover.”

Maggie added: “I want to tell people with epilepsy, don’t be afraid to live your life.

“Just because you have seizures doesn’t mean you can’t be who you are. To people who don’t have epilepsy, if you see someone having a fit don’t be afraid to approach them.

“Just call an ambulance and put something underneath their head. They are not going to be aggressive and they are not going to hurt you.”