Karl Bates

I was diagnosed with epilepsy aged 23. I lost my license for 5 years as unfortunately I kept having seizures around 10-11 months after the previous one. I live in Cambridgeshire in a small village so this was a MASSIVE problem due to their being literally no public transport.
 
I decided though to take the bull by the horns and not let epilepsy stop me achieving what I wanted to do in life (before I briefly reel off what I have achieved please bear in mind I had no training or experience. I simply got where I am through hard work and not giving up or feeling sorry for myself (well that’s not strictly true, you obviously get down after a seizure but bounce back again).

• I started working on Hospital Radio
• Then Moved up to producing my own radio show with a friend of mine on Boundary Sound (local radio show inLincolnshire)
• I have read the full time football scores live on BBC1
• I have worked with David Beckham and other ex pro footballers at his academy near the O2 as a commentator and narrated the DVD
• I have worked with Soccer AM, helping write some of the jokes for the show and also appeared in a couple of sketches
• I have performed stand up comedy at the Comedy Store in Piccadilly and also got to the 1/4 finals of a national stand up comedy competition
• I now work part time for BBC London as a football commentator covering Barnet in League 2
• I have also been an extra in film (the Latest X-Men film)
    

I am extremely proud of what I have done. Don’t get me wrong - my wife has been an incredible help to me and kept me going when the chips are down, but I think this proves that epilepsy should not stand in your way if you want to achieve your goals.