FAMILY members of a man who died after having an epileptic seizure held a chilli-eating challenge in his memory, raising almost £1,000.

Ethan Middlehurst, 23, died in February after he had a seizure.

He developed the condition when he was 18, his mother Angela said, after he was punched in the face, resulting in a broken jaw.

Angela, 42, from Parr, organised the challenge at Ashtons Green Allotments in Parr - where Ethan had been a plot holder - on Global Epilepsy Awareness Day at the end of March.

Ethan's brothers Liam, 25, and Mathew, 13, and his aunt Beverley Cooper were each challenged to eat two Carolina Reaper chillies - one of the hottest varieties of chilli in the world.

The proceeds, which will be made up to £1,000 by the family, will go to The Epilepsy Society.

Angela said: "We are completely devastated at the loss of our beautiful, loving son.

"We want to get a message out there: sufferers, especially younger sufferers, need to be more aware of the dangers of their epilepsy. My son never really took his epilepsy seriously."

She said the chilli-eating challenge had been a success.

"Over 100 people came," she said: "They all managed to eat the chillies - we are big fans of spicy food in our family! It's something Ethan would have appreciated. There was water, milk and yoghurt on hand for afterwards, to cool down.

"We also had an Easter egg hunt for some of the children there."

Former St Cuthbert's High School student Ethan studied mechanical engineering at St Helens College. Before the onset of epilepsy, he had been hoping to join the army as a mechanical engineer but this had not been possible.

Angela added: "Every epilepsy sufferer and their family needs to know the full dangers of epilepsy, so that less families go through what we are going through now."

She said they are planning further events for later in the year, including a sponsored walk up Snowdon.

Anyone wishing to sponsor the event can do so via facebook.com/Ashtons-Green-Community-Allotments.

For information about epilepsy visit epilepsysociety.org.uk, epilepsy.org.uk or call the Epilepsy Helpline on freephone 0808 800 5050.