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‘STOP. Don’t.’ 

I was five years old, and my mum Irene’s voice stopped me in my tracks.   

What was I doing that was so filled with jeopardy? Running towards my dad, desperate to help him.  

My dad, Mick, was having a tonic clonic seizure. I felt helpless and worried, scared he was going to hurt himself. 

He was diagnosed with epilepsy before I was born. 

He would collapse at home and his seizures were so forceful that his strong, 36-year-old body would take me off my feet if his thrashing limbs connected with my little frame. 

I usually stayed with him while he was seizing.  

Before I turned 10, I figured out that rubbing his head sometimes ended the seizures early, but I always had to be really careful approaching him as he lay so I didn’t get caught by a limb.  

I don’t remember a time when my dad wasn’t ‘poorly’, as my mum used to frame it. My older brother Michael and I were told his head was unwell and given a booklet aimed at children, about a pebble being thrown into a pond to explain what happened inside his brain when Dad had seizures.  

Even now, throwing a pebble into water reminds me of brain waves and neurological disarray.  

Widespread acceptance of epilepsy, and the knowledge of this often misunderstood condition, have both come on leaps and bounds over the years.

As a child, however, I found it difficult to talk about it to my friends who couldn’t really understand. And by the time I got to secondary school, I used to feel embarrassed about Dad’s condition.  

Why couldn’t my dad be like everyone else’s and drive a company car and be away on business? Why did my dad sometimes have vacant episodes when everyone else’s dad was OK?  

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.

From March 10 to March 26, which marks Purple Day (epilepsy awareness day), we will be running a series of features and first-person pieces, raising awareness of epilepsy and SUDEP.

Sarah was so incredible at helping other people share their experiences; she was a born storyteller and we hope to do her proud with this series, while raising money in her memory.

I remember feeling like life was really unfair. I wanted a dad who’d be at the school play or one that could take part in sports day and if he’d had a fit or was poorly he couldn’t.  

I remember when he went to a residential epilepsy centre in Buckinghamshire for a week. He was taken off all his medications while there to have his dosages recalibrated and he walked around in a crash helmet in case he had a sudden fall.  

Even though I complained sometimes, Dad was my hero as a kid.

He taught me to tie my shoes, tell the time, ride a bike, bake bread, blow on a blade of grass and have it squeal into the distance.

He and I spent every moment together in my childhood, but I had to share him with his unseen condition that would sometimes disrupt our plans for the day.   

Bike rides would be cancelled at the last minute; his planned support on the sidelines of a netball match conspicuous in its absence as he slept off another seizure, despite promising he’d come and watch me play.  

His epilepsy changed the expected child and parent dynamic between us.  

As I grew, my brother and I took on some of the responsibility of keeping Dad safe.

Over the years he took various cocktails of drugs, all designed to reduce the frequency, voracity or after effects of his seizures, but Mum taught us well to make sure he was lying down wherever he was before a seizure happened, and to move anything he could thrash against that might break or hurt.   

We grew up accustomed to the vacancy that replaced his usual humour in the minutes before he’d start seizing. Afterwards, he would fall asleep, sometimes for hours, in recovery.   

When he woke up, Dad always tried to reassure me. He used to say, ‘You know me, love, I’m indestructible like the Titanic.’ I had no idea the Titanic sank until I was about 11. It was his silly bugger sense of humour and he still says it to me today after a fit.  

As I got older, I could take more honesty. He’d tell me a seizure felt like being in the ring with Mike Tyson. His arms and legs would ache after seizures so violent I’d fear he’d never recover.  

While the memories of worry and fear from my childhood have diminished over time, so have the strength of Dad’s seizures.

He is now 76 and while they are still as powerful in his brain, his older limbs don’t flail like they used to. He’s spent more than four decades dealing with his condition and he’s tired – like a boxer who’s spent too many hours in the ring. 

Epilepsy doesn’t receive the same funding as some other neurological conditions.

Dad has helped the Epilepsy Society for years, jangling a donation tin endlessly on Saturdays in our local town centre and I ran the 2018 London Marathon for the charity, stopping only to hug Dad who came to watch.  

When I saw him at mile 24, there were tears in both our eyes.  

There is no cure, and epilepsy can be fatal, though it usually isn’t. And while it takes the shine off special days or family events, many with it – like my dad – live alongside it.

A cure wouldn’t make a difference to my father’s remaining years but it would mean that kids would get their mums and dads back at full capacity.  

To me, a cure would be bittersweet. I’d love one for all the kids who live with a parent with epilepsy like I did, but it’s too late for my dad. 

There’s no doubt that my life would be different if Dad had been well: Dad would have worked rather than being told, at 32, that he had to give up his fledgling hairdressing business.

We’d have had more money for family holidays and birthday presents…

But I wonder whether I could blow on a blade of grass, or make plaited bread?  

While I thought I wanted a ‘corporate dad’, if he’d worked, I wouldn’t have any of the incredible memories I have with him. He’d have been too busy to build tents in the garden.

He’d have been home late, and gone early in the morning, not there to put empty milk bottles of hot water into my welly boots on cold snowy days. Because he couldn’t work, I got so much more of him.  

I’ve never asked Dad if he’d change his life if he could. Thinking about it, I’d be scared of his answer because I wouldn’t change him for anything. 

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

If you’re a regular Asda shopper you might notice some changes occurring within your local supermarket over the next 12 months.

That’s because the retailer is going to be axing between 5,000 and 6,000 products from its ranges, following a decline in sales.

It’s not yet known exactly which products will be disappearing from the shop shelves, but a category-by-category review is already underway and it’s thought the cull will mostly focus on trimming varying product sizes down, rather than reducing choices.

For example, within the current tomato ketchup range, brands offer various different size bottles. Instead of offering so many, the range would be reduced to just feature small, medium and large options to make things simpler for customers.

And this isn’t the only thing you might notice looking a little different in stores, as Asda is also going to be adjusting the way that products are displayed to customers.

This is according to the executive chairman, Allan Leighton, who told The Grocer: ‘We’ve got around 30,000 SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) and we probably need to be in the 24 to 25,000 range so we’re probably 5,000 over SKUed.

‘The challenge is to get that adjustment made in the next 12 months and we’ve already started that as we go through the range reviews and the range and price architecture by category. We’re adjusting both that and the way that the product is displayed on the shelves.’

While some might be sad to see certain products go, the Asda boss claims it’ll be a positive move for their suppliers, as they’re hoping it will result in more volume sales.

He says the idea isn’t to sell less, but to ‘sell more per SKU’ and that the big focus for the company is to focus on getting ‘all the basic stuff right’.

Asda also recently launched its Rollback initiative cutting 4,000 prices by an average of 25%and brought back its iconic ‘Asda Price’ slogan as part of a mission to ‘make Asda the cheapest traditional supermarket’ in the UK. 

This means they plan to have lower prices than the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s, which are also considered to be ‘traditional’ supermarkets, as they sell a wider range of products across own-brand and branded ranges, as well as offering services like online delivery, clothing, and fuel. 

Discount supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl are a little different, as they stock a smaller number of products and don’t offer all of the same services. As such, Asda says they aren’t able to accurately compare all of their deals against them.

However, the retailer did confirm that there will be certain instances where the new Asda Rollback prices are cheaper than that at Aldi. 

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

A woman has confessed there is one huge part of her life that she keeps a secret from the people she dates – but some people have accused her of not being honest

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On the hunt for the perfect spring bedding set? Dunelm is back at it again with the affordable interiors, and we need every single colour of these stunning sheets from the budget brand.

The perfect example of affordable homeware that looks luxe without the eye-watering price tag, Dunelm’s Billie Duvet Cover and Pillowcase Set has quickly become a viral best-seller from the brand, described as ‘like designer sheets’.

Even better? They cost just £40 for a double set, which includes a duvet cover and two pillowcases. Considering it looks like a luxury brand, we reckon that’s pretty good.

Dunelm Billie Duvet Cover and Pillowcase Set in Sage – Double

Ideal for creating a designer look on a budget, the Billie set features a gorgeous textured, matelassé design that makes it look far more expensive than it is. The double set also comes with two matching pillowcases.

shop £40

‘The best Duvet Cover set I have owned.’ Raved one impressed shopper. ‘I have previously bought sets from well-known stores and always been very happy with the quality and design of those, but this is the best one!

‘The design and quality is superb. Washes well with no ironing. I have the best night’s sleep and love the cushioned pattern.’

Ideal for creating a designer look on a budget, the Billie set features a gorgeously textured, matelassé design that makes it look far more expensive than it is.

Better still, it’s made from a 50% recycled polyester and 50% polycotton blend which makes it lightweight yet cosy, ensuring you don’t overheat when you snuggle up beneath it.  

But what really sets this Dunelm duvet set apart is its wide range of colours. Available in Ochre, Natural, Sage, Blue, Black, Emerald, Grey and White, you’re sure to find a hue to suit your bedroom.

We’ve currently got our eye on the Sage and Ochre shades, both bright, uplifting and ideal for spring homeware styling, but when winter rolls back around we’ll be picking up Emerald and Blue.

Perfect for those who want to make the job of changing the duvet just that little bit easier, fans are delighted by its no-iron material, which creates a put-together look without any hassle.

Better still, the duvet set is fully machine washable for easy cleaning and maintenance, complete with button fastenings to ensure the inner duvet stays put within the sheets.

Dunelm shoppers seem to be loving the sheets, too, with over 1400 rating it a full five stars, calling it the ‘best duvet set I have ever owned’ and ‘so luxurious’.

‘I really love this duvet set. The material is so soft and touchable, and the design is really interesting.’ Wrote one impressed five-star reviewer. ‘I bought the set in ‘sage’ but there is such a good choice of colours to suit everyone. The price is also very good for the amazing quality.’

Another added: ‘This duvet looks beautiful on the bed, washes and dries in no time, and no ironing is required. The best duvet I’ve ever had. I have 1 green one and 2 white ones as they are so good.’

‘I love this duvet set. I had just decorated my spare room, and this set looks beautiful in there! My guests complimented me on the set and asked where I had bought it from! It’s a really good quality.’ Wrote a third.

We may need this affordable Dunelm set in every colour…

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Lying on an examination table with her legs spread, 16-year-old Annie Charlotte heard the words no one wants to hear from a sexual health nurse: ‘Oh my god!’

She’d gone to the clinic to have a coil fitted in a bid to combat her unbelievably heavy periods, but as soon as the nurse went to insert the speculum, it was clear something wasn’t right.

‘”Oh my god!” is not what you want to hear when a nurse has her hand in your vagina,’ Annie tells Metro. ‘She said there was something in the way of her fingers and that I should go and see a gynaecologist.’

Two weeks, one ultrasound and one MRI later, Annie found out the problem – she had two vaginas. Not only that, but she had two uteruses, two cervixes, two vaginas. ‘But only one set of ovaries,’ she adds.

The reason it had gone undetected for so long was because there had only been one external opening to the vagina.

‘I was mortified… absolutely horrified,’ remembers Annie, now 26. ‘The gynaecologist was a guy which made me super uncomfortable – and then I was told it meant I might not be able to have kids.

‘I remember leaving the doctors and sitting in the car with my mum in silence because we didn’t know what to say. At 16, I just wanted to be normal, but I couldn’t have felt more different – I was so upset.’

The condition, known as uterine didelphys or double uterus, occurs while in the womb. Typically a foetus has two ducts which fuse together to create one uterus, but if they don’t join together it leaves two uteruses.

It’s very rare, affecting an estimated 0.3% of the population and it can lead to fertility issues, or result in two different pregnancies at the same time.

The diagnosis also revealed why Annie had struggled with her periods, to the point that often nothing could stem the flow. ‘The issue was I’d been putting tampons up the wrong vagina,’ she explains.

‘Each uterus bleeds at a different time, sometimes I’d have a period for two weeks straight, or I’d have a period and then have only a two week gap before I bled again.’

If they did menstruate at the same time, which has happened to Annie before, she would sometimes pass out from the blood loss.

Since her diagnosis, she’s been taking the pill to make her periods lighter – although she has to take two a day instead of one to double the dose, which does have its downsides.

‘I often feel really angry, quite depressed and overly emotional,’ admits Annie.

Initially, she had begged the doctor to operate and give her a single vagina, butwas refused because she was so young. Instead, Annie was told to wait until she was ready to think about starting a family. However,she’s received a lot of mixed messages from doctors regarding her fertility.

‘One specialist gynaecologist said in the most nonchalant way: “you’re probably going to have multiple miscarriages“,’ she remembers. ‘Then another doctor told me I could be nine months pregnant and four months pregnant at the same time. The not knowing is so stressful, and I don’t want to be infertile.’

The only comfort Annie, who lives in Surrey, can take, is that she doesn’t want children until her mid-thirties, so hopes that fertility treatments and IVF will have advanced even further by then.

‘If I wanted kids now I’d struggle with it but for now I’m putting it to the back of my mind,’ she adds.

As she got older, Annie never told anyone about her condition. It was only when she went to university and began dating that realised she couldn’t hide it forever.

‘The first time I ever told someone was after I lost my virginity to them – god knows why I blurted it out,’ she laughs. ‘I just lay next to him and said “I have two vaginas”. He looked at me like I was crazy but then just replied “okay” and never brought it up again.

‘I slept with another guy and told him after too. He said he hadn’t felt them and asked to have a look. They actually always ask to look and I’ve never had a negative reaction which is comforting.’

Her biggest worry was having to lose her virginity twice – and remembers it being a ‘painful’ experience, having sex in each vagina for the first time.

Annie, who is currently single, has been told that her two vaginas feel exactly the same as one, but if a finger is placed in each and brought together, you can feel the wall that separates them.

She also says that her right vagina is bigger and deeper, so men’s penises tend to slide into that one during sex in the missionary position, but if she’s doing the doggy style, it slides into the left one.

‘If someone has a large penis I’ll tell them to push into my right one because the left one is a lot shallower, so it makes it more comfortable,’ she explains.

Apart from fertility issues, the other downside to having two vaginas is that revealing her condition makes any relationship ‘very sexual, very quickly’ because it brings up the topic of sex early on, but as a ‘sexual person’ she doesn’t mind it too much.

Aware of her uniqueness, in 2020, Annie even created an OnlyFans account, where she’s known as the Two Pussy Princess, and has since made more than £2 million from the site.

She had been at home in lockdown without any uni work and spent her time sexting multiple boys, until she saw an Instagram post about a girl and how much she made from the platform.

‘I questioned why I was sending these guys sexy videos for free, so I made an account,’ she remembers. ‘I was worried about people accusing me of lying but I know it’s true, and that’s what really matters.

‘I have two vaginas, I was made for this industry,’ she jokes.

A one-in-50 million case…

A mum born with two uteruses welcomed twins, conceiving one baby through IVF in one uterus and the other baby naturally in her other uterus, back in 2023.

Madeline Kaklikos, 24, and her husband, Jon, 27, welcomed their miracle twin boys, Cole and Nate, that February following ten rounds of fertility treatment over three years.

Medics described Madeline’s case as one-in-50 million, due to the fact they were both conceived using different methods and were each developed in a different uterus.

Madeline said: ‘After ten rounds of fertility treatment and years of trying to conceive, it never crossed our minds that we would fall pregnant naturally while undergoing IVF.

‘I’d already been diagnosed with PCOS in 2017, when I was 18, and knew it would be difficult to conceive.

‘However, during an ultrasound to investigate further, it was discovered that I actually have two uteruses and I was diagnosed with uterine didelphys (UD).’

Doctors suggested the couple try IVF, and two embryos were implanted into Madeline’s ‘more accessible uterus’ but unfortunately didn’t take.

In June 2022 they got the call they were pregnant but it was at the 10-week scan that Madeline learned she was expecting twins, with a second spontaneous baby in her second uterus.

Because of her condition, she couldn’t deliver her babies naturally but had a successful C-section at 34 weeks, before being able to take her babies home 17 days later.

A decade on from being diagnosed, Annie has gone from feeling embarrassed to embracing having two vaginas.

‘If you asked me at 16, I’d have said “get rid of it” but now, I wouldn’t change it for the world,’ she says.

‘People are just curious about my body, not negative, so I’ve begun to really accept it rather than hating myself.

‘It’s become my party trick, revealing I have two vaginas. People think it’s really cool and it’s helped me learn to love myself.’

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

Today’s Dylan Dreyer looked incredibly chic in a new photo posted on Instagram during her trip to Paris

Duchess Sophie of Edinburgh looked incredible on a royal visit to New York wearing a pair of trousers by Victoria Beckham’s fashion label.

Christina Hendricks wore a perfect springtime leather look as she attended a skincare launch in Los Angeles