A nursery worker with epilepsy was shocked her neighbour who will do a charity cycle in her honour, despite suffering a heart attack four years ago.

Melissa Palmer, 20, from Brabiner Gardens, New Addington, was with her ex-boyfriend three years ago when she suddenly blacked-out and suffered convulsions.

She had epilepsy diagnosed and suffers fits roughly once every couple of months, the latest at East Croydon station a fortnight ago.

She said: “It affects every part of my life. The fits come about if I am stressed, ill or upset. I cannot go anywhere on my own in case I have one.

“I do not know when I am going to have one, it can happen whenever with no signs beforehand.

“After I have had one my whole body hurts and I cannot walk properly."

Her neighbour Alan Shine’s wife Roz had multiple sclerosis diagnosed three years ago and he said the similarities between the conditions had led to a tight bond between the two households.

He said: “Mel is a lovely girl and it is so hard for her – at her age she should be out having fun not worrying about this. That is why I chose to support her.”

Despite suffering a heart attack that caused permanent damage in 2008, Mr Shine is determined to take on the London to Brighton bike ride in September.

He said: “I rode the London to Southend on July 15 and found it fine.

“This is not about me this is about giving support to a charity, The Epilepsy Society, that has helped Mel so much.”

Miss Palmer said: “It is lovely to have not just a neighbour, but a close friend that wants to help raise awareness about epilepsy.”

 

To donate visit http://www.justgiving.com/dig-deep-for-epilepsy-society