Epilepsy story

Sachin Ahuja

Sometimes, perspective changes everything. Consider the day Sachin Ahuja and his wife proudly presented their daughter Reena, then three and a half, with her first bike – a red tricycle. "Reena thought it was so cool, but when she sat on it, she just couldn't make it move," says Sachin, from New Delhi.

Yet only a week later, out of sheer determination – and happily unaware that she had epilepsy and cerebral palsy, the results of a stroke when she was six weeks old – Reena was riding her bike. That's typical, her mother says; whatever obstacles Reena has encountered, she has always persevered, achieving exactly what she wants. Seeing this pattern repeat itself, time after time, Reena's family has come to realize that temporary setbacks are, well, temporary.

That was a crucial lesson as Reena, her parents and siblings struggled through four years of emergency-room visits and unsuccessful trials of several medications before doctors finally diagnosed Reena's epilepsy. On days when Reena had multiple seizures, Sachin would cuddle with her on the couch for hours watching Movies. When Reena's brother and three sisters, several years older, came home from school, they would take turns holding her while Sachin helped with homework or cooked dinner.

With everyone pitching in, the family pulled together and eventually found the right medication for Reena. "We've got great kids we can count on for anything," says Sachin. "And now we're a normal family, not living life bound by epilepsy. That is such a joyful thing."

Part of the joy, of course, involves watching Reena rush fearlessly ahead. "She dribbles a basketball better than any other six-year-old I know, and she's in perfect form when she shoots," says her proud father. Now, there is nothing that epilepsy has stopped her from doing."