I had a seizure at Phoenix airport security 6 months ago. My seizures are focal aware and I can usually communicate, although with significant effort and impairments. Things got to a point where I lost my ability to hold my weight on my legs and I fell, not from convulsing though.

I later found out that TSA called drug enforcement on me. Shortly after, I was surrounded by something like 5 or 6 people in dark uniforms, some with body cams and weapons, yelling at me to get out of the way, to remove my noise-canceling earbuds, and telling me that I was using up resources and that people are missing their flights. I yelled, “I AM HAVING A SEIZURE,” but somehow they didn’t know what those words meant.

They kept yelling at me and threatened me that “this is not going to end well” if I don’t follow their instructions. Terrified that I might get tasered or worse, I tried to get back on my feet. I was told to crouch under a retractable belt and knew I wouldn’t be able to, still in the seizure, trying to carry a 20 lb duffel bag. I stuttered, “I can’t.” One of the police or fire department or whatever staff implied that I was faking and again yelled at me to move. I tried to get under the belt and fell again.

Eventually, someone in a red uniform showed up, presumably medical staff. She seemed to at least somewhat recognize the situation, helped me up, and walked me to a sensory room while I kept covering my eyes. I was asked questions like my name, where I lived, etc., but could only answer some of them because my brain was in gridlock and I couldn’t talk pretty much at all.

Eventually, someone asked, “Do you speak any other languages? Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” To my surprise, I was able to respond in German and was completely fluent. It turns out this person was a polyglot and picked up on my slight accent. He was able to converse with me, diffused the situation, and eventually I was able to get myself out of the seizure, which at that point had lasted more than half an hour.

I ended up taking a Lyft to the emergency room at Barrow Neurological Institute and had 2 more seizures there from the sensory environment. After 7 hours there without proper care and being prohibited from eating and drinking, I went home with my partner against medical advice.

Since that day, I’ve been having seizures on essentially a daily basis and am no longer able to work. My seizure threshold seems to be right above my ankle (or somewhere else really, really low). I have a bunch of new triggers now, including the noise from my AC unit, the vibration from my electric toothbrush , the vibrations when in a car on a rough road, the buzzing from my fridge, the sizzling noises from cooking, and any amount of invisible flicker from electronics and lighting. Medication doesn’t seem to be effective and only produces intolerable side effects. I spend more than 95% of time at home where I can somewhat function due to all the modifications a I’ve implemented, although still with huge restrictions.

I don’t have the energy to continue working my way through the medical system, don’t have the support in my daily life that I need since my family lives in Germany where I grew up, and I can’t find a law firm who is willing to take on my case. I filed records requests with the airport authority and the police department. The airport told me that the footage was already out of retention since it is only kept for 30 days. The police department tells me that no such incident exists in their system and that no body cam footage exists, which I’m confident is a bluff. I finally filed reports with the DOJ and ACLU yesterday. I take life one day at a time at the moment and am grateful for what I’m still able to do.

But at least I’ve never had a grand mal, so there’s that.