Allie’s story

Allie Blackshaw, 25, from Worksop, has been awarded January’s Epilepsy Star award for her incredible quick-thinking when she helped a stranger who was having a serious seizure in public.

Allie was on a shopping trip with her son and her brother at Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield, when she came across Charlotte Hoggard on the floor having a seizure.

Charlotte, from Rotherham, who had been working at the shopping centre that day, had had a tonic-clonic seizure and hit her head on a marble pillar which was reenforced with steel on its edges, causing a severe skull fracture. At one point, Charlotte went blue and appeared to stop breathing for a while.

Allie had found her during the seizure in a pool of blood and immediately stepped into action and started administering seizure first-aid.

Crucially, Allie cushioned Charlotte’s head to prevent further injury and started timing the seizure. She put Charlotte in the recovery position when her seizure ended and stayed with her until help arrived.

Allie was nominated by Charlotte’s mum, Sam, who describes Allie as Charlotte’s ‘guardian angel’. Sam was particularly grateful that Allie knew to look for Charlotte’s emergency information on her watch as she didn’t have her phone on her. Allie was therefore able to contact her and Charlotte’s dad, allowing Sam to get to her daughter and be by her side. This is something the family and Allie want more people to be aware of.

Read more about Allie and Charlotte’s story.

“The very best of humanity”

Sam described how she felt when she found out a stranger had stepped in to help Charlotte: “My first feeling was actually one of incredulity. I couldn’t believe that such a young woman had done so much to save the situation. The more we learned about the horror of the scene, the more astonishing her actions became — finding our contact details on Charlotte’s watch, timing the seizure, protecting her fractured skull, and staying calm throughout. It was an extraordinary display of maturity, kindness, clinical awareness, and compassion.”

Sam said that there was no one better who could’ve been there for Charlotte at that moment: “Allie ran towards what must have been a frightening and chaotic situation without hesitation. She protected Charlotte’s head with her own baby’s blanket, did everything correctly from a medical point of view, and had the presence of mind to gently warn me that what I was about to see would be hard. In our darkest moment, Allie was quite literally our angel. Our gratitude is very difficult to put into words.

“I’m sure Allie would say that she was simply doing what she felt was right at the time — but what she did went far beyond that. She noticed, she acted, and she didn’t walk away. That willingness to help a stranger in need is exactly what this award represents. Her actions show the very best of humanity.”

Due to her seizure and injuries, Charlotte didn’t know that Allie had helped her until the following day, when Sam was able to tell her what had happened. “When she learned that Allie had stepped in, she felt it was fate that they had met, and that Allie had saved not just her life in that moment, but her future. Charlotte believes they are now connected in a way that will last forever, and that they will be the closest of friends. We will always be deeply grateful to Allie.”

“Bravery and quick-thinking”

Rebekah Smith, chief executive at Epilepsy Action, said: “We’re delighted to give our first Epilepsy Star award of the year to Allie, who is incredibly deserving of this recognition. Allie stepped in at a time when Charlotte was at her most vulnerable, and unfortunately in this instance seriously injured. We’re so glad that Allie was there on that day, and their story shows the importance of knowing seizure first-aid.

“Allie is a leading example of an epilepsy ally, and we hope that when people hear this story, if they’re not already familiar, they are inspired to learn seizure first-aid. Our CARE acronym (Comfort, Action, Reassure, Emergency) is a simple way to remember how to help someone having a seizure, and having this knowledge can make all the difference. Taking a few minutes to familiarize yourself with CARE could really save someone’s life.

“We’re also impressed by Allie’s quick-thinking to check Charlotte for any medical ID, as we advise under the ‘Action’ section of CARE. Locating Charlotte’s emergency information on her smartwatch equipped Allie with the knowledge that Charlotte had epilepsy and crucially enabled her to alert her loved ones, who were able to come and be with her. We’d urge everyone with epilepsy to ensure their medical ID is set up, and for people to familiarise themselves with how to access this information on both smartphones and smartwatches.

“We’d like to thank Sam and Charlotte for sharing their story with us, as we appreciate it must’ve been a very traumatic experience for all involved. We’re so pleased to recognise Allie’s bravery and quick-thinking and hope her actions inspire others to learn more about epilepsy. Above all, it is lovely to see that they have stayed in touch and we wish them all the very best.”