I came home early on a Friday evening after work and decided to lie down on the couch before an engagement later that night. As I drifted to sleep, I heard what I thought was a knock at the door. I sat up and asked, "Who is it?!" There was no answer, so I laid back down, thinking that maybe I was hearing things.

A few minutes later I heard it again, but it seemed to be a very light knock. So, I got up to look through the peephole but couldn't see anything. As I stood in a daze leaning against the door, I felt it move, it scared me, but thought maybe it was the high winds from outside.

I looked out again and saw a guy coming towards my door; he bent down out of my view. I continued to stand at the door for just a little while thinking, "Is this maintenance working on something at the front of my door?" I wanted to know what was going on, so I went ahead and opened the door. When I did, I found that my neighbor from downstairs had made her way upstairs and was laying on her side, having a seizure.

I bent down and started talking to her, asking if she was okay. I noticed that the guy I saw earlier was standing off to the side and was on his phone with 9-1-1. He went on to tell me that they were talking earlier via text, but the text messages started coming through as gibberish. He realized something was wrong and decided to stop by and check on her. As he drove up to the apartments, he noticed her at my door. He identified himself as a family friend.

I reached back, pulled a throw from my couch, and placed it under her head. I continued talking to her, letting her know that the ambulance was on its way and that everything was going to be okay. She started to have another seizure. Knowing there was nothing that I could do, I started praying. As I prayed, she grabbed my arm, I didn’t think anything of it; maybe it was a reaction due to the seizure? I kept rubbing her back, talking, and hoping it would calm her enough to bring her out of it. Shortly after, she started having another seizure, so I started praying again, she grabbed my arm again. I knew at that moment she could hear me as I prayed.

She eventually calmed down and started to open her eyes and was able to communicate with me. At that point, I truly felt that she was going to be okay. The ambulance finally arrived and took her to the hospital.

The next day, I stopped in to check on her. Though her memory was vague, she did remember me praying for her. She needed help, saw my car, but didn’t remember how she made it upstairs to my door. I later learned that my neighbor, Dena, is a cancer patient with a brain tumor.

It is a helpless feeling to watch someone have a seizure, whether it is a friend, a loved one or a stranger. There are several training resources available to help you recognize and respond safely to a person having a seizure. In the event that you experience a person having a seizure, here are some first-aid tips.