Tag Archives: SUDEP

A YOUNG jockey has told how she was inspired by a late Killaloe girl with special needs to resume riding in her memorial race, a few months after receiving her own Epilepsy diagnosis. Ali O’Brien (14) Tullaheady, Nenagh, was thrilled to win the Brianna Lynch Memorial Cup at the North Tipperary Foxhounds Point-to-Point at Lisboney, Nenagh recently. In November 2019, Brianna Lynch (9) died in her sleep from SUDEP – Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy – leaving her family devastated. Her mother, Arabella Scanlan, a well-known Killaloe horse trainer, provided Ali with one of her horses, Bridget, to ride in the memorial race for her daughter, a few weeks after the teenager had decided to get back on a horse following her own Epilepsy diagnosis in December 2021. Ali didn’t want to go back riding in December and January in the wake of her Epilepsy diagnosis. When her medication wasn’t working, Ali often wondered was this how Brianna, who was …

A HORSE race held in memory of a young Killaloe girl with special needs, who touched the lives of countless people, has shone a much needed spotlight on a life-threatening condition. There was a great buzz of excitement at the second Brianna Lynch Memorial Cup, which was the last race on the North Tipperary Foxhounds Point-to-Point at Lisboney, Nenagh recently. In November 2019, Brianna Lynch (9) died in her sleep from suspected Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), leaving her family devastated. Her mother, Arabella Scanlan has used this memorial race to highlight the risks associated with SUDEP. SUDEP refers to deaths in people with epilepsy that are not caused by injury, drowning, or other known causes. Studies suggest that each year there are about 1.16 cases of SUDEP for every 1,000 people with epilepsy, although estimates vary. It is the leading cause of death in people with uncontrolled seizures. Epilepsy – which affects 40,000 people across the country – …