Girl, 8, misdiagnosed with 'behavioural problem' has more than 60 seizures a day

An eight-year-old girl who has been having seizures most of her life helped her family raise £1,400 for charity at an epilepsy-friendly rave for children on Sunday.

Eloise Morris, from Immingham, is described as the "happiest girl" by her mum Sophie Morris. But she has been very poorly and experienced countless medical investigations and procedures, including surgery.

Sophie told Grimsby Live: "She was about two and a half and her eyes kept rolling back. We went to the opticians and they said it was a behavioural thing and not to worry about it. I wasn't happy with that.

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"I had an instinct that this is more than just behavioural because I've got two other children. I already knew it wasn't quite right. I took her to a doctor and she did it three times in front of the doctor and then she was sick."

The GP knew this was an emergency and sent Eloise straight to the hospital where she had tests. Eloise was diagnosed with epilepsy, but it has "spiralled" since then and more conditions have developed, Sophie said.

"We've always thought epilepsy, you go to the floor and you shake," Sophie said. "We never, ever realised there were so many different types. Every year, there has been different epilepsy diagnoses added on. She has got worse as the years have gone on. She has more than 64 absence seizures a day."

An absence seizure is where a person loses awareness of their surroundings for around 15 seconds and can't remember it afterwards, according to the NHS. They mainly affect children, but can happen at any age.

Eloise has also been diagnosed with Jeavons syndrome, a serious subtype of epilepsy affecting only 2% of people with an epilepsy diagnosis. Because of this, Eloise had to have a Vagus Nerve Stimulator implanted into her chest which connects to the brain.

Her parents have a portable magnet which they can use to send a shockwave to Eloise's brain via the Vagus Nerve Stimulator to stop the seizure. In Eloise's case, epilepsy medication does not work.

Eloise has also been diagnosed with Sunflower Syndrome which means any sunlight, including reflections in water, will cause her to jerk her head "quite aggressively", Sophie said.

This means Eloise has to wear special glasses and a sun hat and avoid the sun as much as possible. Despite all this, Sophie says her daughter is a "loving, strong, brave and just incredible little girl."

Recently, Sophie and her husband Adam Morris organised a rave for children which raised more than £1,400 for charity. 'Mini Ravers' had non-strobe lighting and other epilepsy-friendly changes and was enjoyed by lots of children, including Eloise and her sisters Freya, 11, and Olivia, five.

Ash Nobel was the DJ and the event was also supported by Lee Layman and Jayde Hynes at R Re's Rugrats childminders. The money was split between local charity The Together Charity and Epilepsy Action, with Eloise the inspiration behind the event.

Sophie added: "Eloise is a strong little girl and she has got amazing friendship groups." Sophie and Adam are planning to announce a new fundraiser in the next few months.