As my younger sister seized in front of me in the tin shower shed of our glamping site, I dialled 999 as fast as I could.
After telling the call handler what had happened – how I had found my younger sister on the floor shaking, her head banging against the wall – they asked me where I was.
‘I don’t know,’ I answered, fear in my voice.
We were in the middle of a field in Norfolk, miles away from a town or even a village. I had no idea how to direct emergency services to get to my sister. It felt really scary that I couldn’t help her.
‘Have you got what3words?’ the person on the phone asked.
What3words is a GPS system that provides a simple way to communicate precise locations. It’s mapped the entire world into 3-meter by 3-meter squares and has given each square a unique three-word code.
I’d heard about the app before, when it was suggested as a protective tool on Countryfile, and had quickly downloaded it for free on my phone.
Within seconds, I yelled ‘Custom. Shelf. Tolerable’ into the phone.
I hoped those three random words would be enough for them to find us – to get my sister, my best friend, to hospital.
Tina’s first seizures had been in February 2024. I’d phoned her one afternoon, as I do nearly every day. I was concerned when she told me her then 11-year-old son had told her she had been shaking and foaming at the mouth earlier that day.
She couldn’t remember it and wondered if she’d had a seizure.
‘I think I should take you to the hospital,’ I said to her, but she argued it wouldn’t be necessary.
Shortly after, while I was still on the phone with her, Tina yelled, as if in pain, and I heard her hit the floor.
I immediately hung up and drove to her house, just a mile away. She wasn’t seizing anymore when I arrived, but was still lying on the floor, unable to understand what had happened.
I took her to the hospital, where she was checked out. Doctors thought it might be a reaction to a medication she was on, so they advised her to stop taking it and see what happened.
There were no seizures after this, so I thought it would be safe to book us a little getaway on a glamping site for a week in August, six months later.
Tina and I had gone camping several times with our sons, aged 10 and 11, over the years. I was the one who really loved camping – had the tent, the cooking utensils, the camp beds – and Tina came along for the ride.
But with both of our recent health issues – my fibromyalgia and Tina’s two seizures – we decided that our next camping trip needed to be easier, so we decided to book a glamping tent.
The tent was pitched complete with beds made up, with a separate metal shed with a fridge and cooking rings and pans and crockery. Plus another with a shower and a toilet separately. It gave us the comfort we needed.
We drove just over an hour until we arrived in the field with the tent we’d booked. The boys played and we got a BBQ set up to cook dinner and roast marshmallows, before heading to bed. The second day was much the same, until the evening.
I had just started getting dinner ready on the BBQ, and Tina was in the shower in a tin shed, about a minute’s walk away from myself and the boys.
I heard her shout out as if in pain, and my instincts knew immediately she’d had another seizure. As soon as I heard it, I ran to her.
She’d clearly gone down headfirst, kicking the door of the shower open with her legs. I pulled her legs so her head wouldn’t continue hitting against the wall as she shook, and then I covered her body with a towel.
‘Boys, bring me my phone!’ I shouted.
Not long before, I’d been a carer, so I was used to staying calm in emergencies. I put on this work hat and went into a practical, survival mode.
I rang 999 and was then reminded about the what3words app.
‘Custom. Shelf. Tolerable.’
The call handler said they were sending an ambulance to our location, and I could hear sirens only 15 minutes later. By this point, Tina was sitting up, muddled and confused. I’d fetched her nightgown and put it on her.
The boys, while startled, weren’t afraid. Kids are so resilient.
The ambulance took Tina to the hospital, while I waited to hear when she would need to be picked up.
It was eight hours later, at 2am, when I got a call from her saying it was time to collect her. But by the time I’d arrived, she’d had another seizure, her face full of cuts and blood.
It took a couple of months for her to get diagnosed and medicated for epilepsy, and since then, hasn’t had a seizure.
For Sarah
Last year, on March 10, we lost our beloved colleague Sarah Whiteley. Sarah was a fantastic journalist; she was Metro’s parenting columnist and a valued member of our first-person and opinion desk.
Sarah died aged 39 from SUDEP – sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. It is thought that every year around 1,000 people die from causes related to epilepsy.
With support from Sarah’s family, Metro is fundraising for two very important charities: SUDEP Action and Epilepsy Action.
Sarah was so incredible at helping other people share their experiences; she was a born storyteller and we hope to do her proud and raise money in her memory.
It took me a while to talk about what happened that evening in August. While in the moment, I went into survival mode, afterwards, I got emotional thinking about what I’d seen – my sister’s body seizing in the shower. It was traumatising.
Tina still thanks me to this day for looking after her and for making sure she got to the hospital.
What3words is a lifesaving tool but not enough people know about it.
Since then, I’ve told everyone I can about the app and hope it makes a difference to someone else.
Because these three random words helped to save my sister’s life.
As told to Lauren Crosby Medlicott.
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