Brightlingsea girl, 3, to have complex operation to stop seizures

Florence Penn, three-years-old, was diagnosed with cortical dysplasia which causes focal epilepsy in June 2019 when she was just six-months-old.

Her condition was identified by doctors after her parents, Frazer and Rebecca, both 32, from Brightlingsea, started to notice their daughter behaving abnormally.

Following a trip to Colchester Hospital, Florence started to have terrible seizures on a regular basis for what was a nightmarish three months for the family.

Dad Frazer said: “My wife and I are care workers so we are used to seeing people have seizures, but when it is your own little girl it destroys you.

“There is nothing you can do and it is out of your control, but Florence is genuinely a happy-go-lucky little girl who is cheeky and naughty.”

Florence, who attends nursery, was eventually referred to Great Ormond Street Hospital and put on medication which helped reduce the severity of her seizures.

Despite this, she stills suffer up to ten mini fits within a few minutes several times a day, so she is now set to endure a ten-hour operation in July.

The complex procedure, called a Hemispherectomy, will see doctors cut through the centre of her head before disconnecting the two halves of her brain.

After the surgery and six weeks of recovery, Florence’s seizures should end, but the fine motor skills and peripheral vision on her right side, however, will be lost.

“We don’t want our girl to go through this and we hope she does not hate us for it, but we know deep down this is the best thing to do for her,” added Frazer.

“She will lose sight and mobility, will have to wear a splint on her ankle and wrist and she will have to teach the right side of her brain to control the right side of her body.

“But her education and learning will improve again and if the seizures stop then she will no longer be high-risk.

“Florence has no clue what is coming her way, but hopefully she will bounce right back and have a better quality of life.”