A Gainsborough family are raising funds and awareness of SUDEP after Megan Cook died suddenly last year

A mother and her family are raising money in memory of her daughter after she died suddenly from epilepsy.

Megan Cook, from Gainsborough, was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2017 after having two seizures.

Sadly she passed away in August last year, aged just 18.

Megan’s mum, Teresa Cook, said: “Her CAT scans, MRI scans and EEG were all clear.

“But then Megan had another seizure on August 31 and she died. They call it Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).

“We had never been told about SUDEP and hadn’t even heard of it until the coroner told us five weeks after Megan passed away.

“Megan was a shy person but was happy and loved being around her family, nephew and niece.

“She was a beautiful and caring person who would help anyone.”

It is thought SUDEP can occur either during or following a seizure, possibly due to a problem with the person’s heart or breathing during or following the seizure.

Now Megan’s family are raising money for SUDEP Action in her memory.

Teresa said: “Money is needed to help with research to look into why there are deaths in epilepsy.”

As part of the fundraising, a raffle has been held in partnership with Royal Mail.

“The raffle went well and we raised £3,198 which Royal Mail are kindly going to match,” Teresa added.

“We miss Megan so much and helping to raise money for such a good cause helps us to cope that little bit more and also raises awareness.”

To find out more information about SUDEP, visit the SUDEP Action website www.sudep.org.

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