THE mum of a teenage girl with epilepsy is joining a nationwide campaign to fight for free dental care for epilepsy sufferers.

Becky Smith from Rainford is mum to Lucy Cook who has epilepsy and suffers from seizures as part of the condition.

According to the NHS, Epilepsy is a common condition that affects the brain and causes frequent seizures.

Seizures can be classed as the following: uncontrollable jerking and shaking, losing awareness and staring blankly into space, becoming stiff, strange sensations, such as a "rising" feeling in the tummy, unusual smells or tastes, and a tingling feeling in your arms or legs and/or collapsing.

As part of the condition, Lucy has suffered dental damage caused by the seizures and grinding her teeth tight during them, something that is not uncommon with epilepsy sufferers.

Due to this, there is currently a campaign calling for all dental treatment caused by seizures for people with official epilepsy diagnosis to be free.

Becky, 42, said: “Lucy’s epilepsy is managed now with medication and support but she recently still had a seizure and it damaged her tooth.

“She has a lovely dentist and they can restore the tooth and she is still in school so it is free, but when she turns 18 it would be really costly and it made me wonder what others with epilepsy do and then I found the petition.

“Epilepsy is a disability and it is lifelong, it is not something sufferers should be penalised for as they cannot help having seizures.

“I just think it’s so wrong that someone like Lucy will have to pay out.”

To sign the petition by Epilepsy Society, go to epilepsysociety.org.uk/FixIt4Free