Erin Riviere Lett loves to dance.
At eight years old, the Grade 2 Burlington student is currently enrolled in ballet, musical theatre and modern dance. Soon she might be adding tap to her busy schedule.
She also really enjoys swimming and has been in the water since she was very little.
When she was only six, Erin was in the middle of a swimming lesson when her mother Michelle Riviere noticed something was wrong.
“I was in the swimming pool and I was on the flutter board kicking back and halfway I stopped,” said Erin. “My mom started to talk to me but I couldn’t answer her.”
Unsure of what was going on, the lifeguard on duty thought Erin was just tired and stopped kicking.
Her neck was crooked and she continued to not answer her mother, who finally realized something was seriously wrong.
“They ended up clearing the pool and called 911,” said Riviere.
The mother of another swimmer, who happened to be a nurse, recognized Erin was having a type of seizure, one different from the typical epileptic convulsive episode.
“She’s just completely unresponsive, she’s totally rigid, catatonic almost when she’s in the middle of her seizures,” said Riviere.
The episode is a faded memory to Erin, who only remembers part of the ambulance ride and waking up in the hospital.
Since that swimming lesson, Erin has had a few more seizures and was diagnosed with epilepsy about six weeks after her pool seizure.
