Tragic Katy Doyle’s family in line for top award

Aug 1 2010 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

THE FAMILY of a young woman who died after suffering an epileptic seizure are up for a national award for the fundraising work they have carried out in her memory.

Katy Doyle was just 24 when she died following a fit caused by a condition called sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).

The young clerical officer had only been diagnosed 18 months before she died in December 2008 and her devastated family had not been told that epilepsy could prove fatal.

Her parents Ian and Helen, both 55, and brother Stewart, 29, channelled their personal tragedy into helping other epilepsy sufferers, raising more than £51,000 as they battle to raise awareness of the condition.

Now the family, of Chester-le-Street, County Durham, are in the grand final of the Outstanding Family of the Year Awards 2010, having already been named as winners of the fundraisers’ category.

They will take part in the final of the competition – organised by Candis health magazine – at Knowsley Hall, Merseyside, on August 23, where they will be up against other families from around the UK to win a luxury holiday

"A lot of people say what we are doing is inspirational, but we don’t feel like that," admits Helen. "We just see it as something we have to do on behalf of Katy, to celebrate her life.

"There are services that could have given Katy life-saving advice, but we didn’t know about them."

Dad Ian added: "We’re determined that this lack of information has got to change.

"No parent should lose a child knowing that with the right help, that child could still be alive."