In a split second, Sandrine Baun’s son Jeremy was in crisis.
The 8-year-old was playing at the water’s edge of a local swimming area with his two sisters when he began convulsing.
Baun said she had turned her head for a moment and when she looked back, Jeremy, who has epilepsy, was flailing helplessly.
To the lifeguards nearby, the grand mal seizure didn’t look much different from the other kids’ playful splashing, Baun said.
That’s what worries Baun.
Baun went to help her son but had trouble pulling him out of the water. She called for the lifeguards, who helped carry him to her beach towel so he wouldn’t hurt his head, but left soon after and didn’t offer further assistance.
“He had a major life-threatening event in the water, and I felt like there was a lack of understanding,” Baun said.
