Quinn J. Reilly recently celebrated his 12th birthday. Within his 12 years of life, Quinn has experienced many challenges due to epilepsy. He experienced his first seizure at 9 months old and received a diagnosis at the age of 2. Quinn’s journey with epilepsy has been filled with ups and downs, but he has always shown incredible resilience and strength.

Quinn has tonic-clonic, focal, and absence seizures. Quinn takes daily medications and has a vagus nerve stimulator (VNS). Despite this, he still experiences absence seizures occasionally. On August 11th, 2024, it will be one whole year since Quinn had a tonic-clonic seizure.

As a middle schooler, Quinn has not allowed his epilepsy to hinder his active lifestyle. Starting 6th grade at Goff Middle School in East Greenbush this past fall, he maintains a vibrant social life and excels in various athletic endeavors. Quinn set a new school push-up record in 5th grade and secured victory in the baseball division with his team last June. Currently boasting a 4-0 record, he aims to clinch another division win this season.

Quinn has faced numerous challenges and obstacles due to his epilepsy. Despite these difficulties, he remains determined and sets his sights on the future. Quinn is focused on improving his grades and is actively engaged with a reading instructor after school to address his severe dyslexia and to bring his reading skills up to grade level. His ultimate aim is to become a proficient reader.

Quinn speaks openly about his epilepsy to his friends, family and peers to raise awareness of epilepsy and demonstrate that he is more than his seizures. To further educate others, Quinn, his family and his educators invited EFNENY to come and speak at his school.

What Quinn Wishes Others to Know About Epilepsy: “Having epilepsy does not keep me from being as active physically as those who do not”