Since September 2025, Epilepsy Ireland have been reimbursing the costs of two specific seizure detection alarms to people with epilepsy across Ireland via the Louise Young Seizure Alarm Fund.
About the fund
The fund was established in memory of the late Louise Young, who sadly passed away from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy in January 2021. She was just 24 years old. Prior to her untimely passing, Louise had become an active media and fundraising volunteer for Epilepsy Ireland – sharing her own personal story of life with epilepsy to help raise awareness and running the VHI Women’s Mini-Marathon in support of the work of Epilepsy Ireland.
Following Louise’s passing - given her involvement and support for the work of Epilepsy Ireland - there was a huge outpouring of support for EI in her memory.
With the permission of Louise's family, we established this fund to reimburse people with epilepsy and their families with the cost of seizure detection devices. Information on seizure alarms and detection devices is a very common query for our services team. However, many alarms on the market come at a significant cost, meaning that many people can not afford to purchase them. In addition, there is limited state support to help people access the potential benefits of seizure detection alarms.
The Louise Young Seizure Alarm fund aims to address this.
How the fund works
The fund reimburses the costs of two named devices – the Epimonitor and Nightwatch+ and can only be accessed when a referral is made by a person’s epilepsy specialist team (Epilepsy nurse, Epilepsy Nurse Specialist, Neurologist, Epileptologist) to our Advocacy & Communications Manager, Paddy McGeoghegan.
When a referral is received, Paddy will provide further information to those referred on how the reimbursement scheme works and the process that must be followed.
Epilepsy specialist teams in public services across Ireland have received communications from Epilepsy Ireland about the fund, and if interested in availing of the fund, you should speak to your/your loved one’s epilepsy specialist team directly.
PLEASE NOTE...
- A person cannot self-refer to the fund; a direct clinical referral to Paddy from an epilepsy specialist is required
- Referrals from GPs or other HCPs will not be accepted
- The fund is limited – referral from an epilepsy specialist is required to help ensure that patients/families most in need can avail of reimbursement
- The fund is limited to the two named devices above – other devices are not currently reimbursed
Further Information
- The Epimonitor is a wrist worn monitor for adults and children with epilepsy (aged 6+ that can detect possible generalised tonic-clonic seizures and alerts a caregiver. Further information on this device can be found by visiting the ‘EpiMonitor’ website
- The Nightwatch+ is a wireless sensor worn during sleep for adults and children with epilepsy (aged 4+) that can detect possible tonic-clonic, tonic (clustered/ prolonged), hyperkinetic, and clustered myoclonic seizures. More information on this device can be found by visiting the 'Tunstalls Emergency Response' website
- If you are seeking general information about other seizure detection devices or alarms which are available, our Community Resource Officers can assist you. However, please note that they can not give recommendations on which alarm may suit your circumstances best. You can find details of your local Community Resource Officer by visiting the ‘Our Local Service’ page on our website
- To learn more about Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, visit the ‘SUDEP’ page on our website
- Louise's sister Katie shared the story of Louise's passing for SUDEP Action Day 2023. You can read this story by visiting the 'SUDEP Action Day' page on our website.
Thank You
We would like to thank the family, friends and colleagues of Louise for their continued support of Epilepsy Ireland in Louise’s memory and for making this fund possible – which is already having a hugely beneficial impact to families across Ireland.
We would also like to thank Tunstalls Emergency Response, the Irish supplier of Nightwatch+ who are also based in Louise's home county of Wexford, for applying an organisational discount to referrals received via this fund – helping to make the fund last longer and helping more people benefit. You can learn more about Tunstalls by visiting the 'Tunstalls Emergency Response' website.
Louise Young – Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam
Just want to say thanks to EI and in particular to Louise Young's family for raising funds to help families like ours purchase monitors. If you could pass on our thanks to her family we would much appreciate it. With our son's prolonged nocturnal seizures, one of us always sleeps in with him. Even still we live with the fear of sleeping through a seizure ourselves. Having this monitor gives us huge peace of mind. Thank you so much for your kindness in fundraising in memory of Louise.
