On the 30th of July past, John Whitehead sadly passed away shortly after experiencing a breakthrough seizure.
John had lived with epilepsy since being a child and prior to his sudden passing, had been 16 years seizure free – making the sudden nature of his passing difficult to comprehend for all those who knew and loved him.
In his final moments and during his seizure, John was cared for by young Mayo man Alex Murphy– who applied the key words of TIME, SAFE, STAY when responding to John’s seizure. Alex is very familiar with this important message as he has a close friend who is living with epilepsy – Cára; one of our media volunteers and someone who has taken part in many campaigns raising awareness of epilepsy and TIME, SAFE, STAY.
Alex applied each point of TIME, SAFE, STAY as he awaited paramedics but unfortunately, shortly after John’s seizure stopped, he stopped breathing and attempts to revive him by Alex and the arriving paramedics proved to be unsuccessful.
While this was a tragic outcome, and a devastating loss for all those who knew and loved John, in consultation with Alex, John’s family have agreed that Alex’s story and his response in John’s final moments should be shared to help raise awareness of the importance of knowing how to respond to a seizure and also, to highlight the all too real risks of epilepsy.
Alex had been scheduled to take part in the Budapest Marathon on the 12th October prior to this experience, but following John’s passing and his role as first responder, Alex has decided to take on the challenge in John’s memory to help raise awareness of seizure first aid, epilepsy risk and to encourage donations in John’s memory to help continue our work in both these areas.
Alex’s run comes at a particularly poignant time, as the marathon takes place in the lead-up to SUDEP Action Day 2025, which takes place on October 15th. This is an annual awareness campaign for Epilepsy Ireland and a time when we raise awareness of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy; the known factors which can increase a person’s risk of SUDEP and what can be done to reduce them - as well as remembering all those who have sadly passed away due to SUDEP and other epilepsy-related deaths.
Speaking about his experiences with epilepsy and being a first responder for John, Alex said:
Cára has always highlighted how important it is to know how to respond to a seizure and when I witnessed John having his seizure, I was so grateful that I had those three words of TIME, SAFE, STAY engraved in my mind and was able to do my best to help John.
I met with John’s family shortly after his passing to share his final moments with them and while they were obviously devastated, they were very grateful that he was with someone who knew how to correctly respond to a seizure. I told them how one of my closest friends (Cára) had lived with epilepsy for many years which is why I knew what to do. As we continued talking, I spoke about doing the Budapest marathon which ultimately led to John’s family giving their blessing to use this tragic experience to raise awareness of seizure first aid amongst the public, and epilepsy risk amongst the epilepsy community.
While John’s cause of death has yet to be determined, I know his family had a concern that he had potentially missed a few days of his anti-seizure medications; potentially increasing his risk for a breakthrough seizure.
For a member of the public witnessing a seizure, the tragic outcome for John will not be the usual or normal outcome – so as we continued to speak, we agreed that it was important to share my experience with John as a way to highlight seizure first aid and to encourage people to learn more. For the epilepsy community, John’s passing also highlights how people need to be aware of epilepsy risk and what can be done to reduce these risks.
I did not know John personally, but it is an honour to now take on this challenge in his memory – and to hopefully raise awareness of epilepsy in his name.
Speaking about Alex's run in memory of John, his niece Jenny said:
We take great comfort from knowing that John had someone caring with him in his final moments, treating him with dignity and respect. We as a family are honoured to have such an amazing young man run in memory of my late Uncle John, and to raise awareness of epilepsy in his name.
We would like to thank Alex for sharing his experience and the Whitehead family for giving their blessing to share John’s final moments as a way to raise awareness of seizure first aid and epilepsy risk. Our thoughts are with them following John’s sudden passing.
John Whitehead - Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam
If you are living with epilepsy or are supporting a loved one living with the condition, and need information or advice about epilepsy, please do not hesitate to contact your Local Community Resource Officer. You can find their details on the ‘Our Local Service’ page of our website.
Further Information
- To learn more about seizure first aid and TIME, SAFE, STAY, visit the ‘Seizure First Aid’ section of our website
- For more information on Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, visit the ‘SUDEP’ page on our website
- You can find more information on Reducing risks of epilepsy by visiting the ‘Safety & Seizures’ section of our website
- If you would like to leave a message of condolence to John’s family, you can do so by visiting the ‘RIP’ website
- If you would like to make a donation to our work in support of Alex’s efforts in John’s memory, you can donate via the button below. Please ensure that you select the ‘In Memory of’ option and input John Whitehead in the ‘In Memory of’ field. Make donation in John’s memory