I Was Clinically Dead For 90 Seconds Because My Teacher Thought My Epilepsy Was A “Trend.” My Friend Didn’t Survive, And The School Is Trying To Cover It Up. We Just Leaked The Security Footage. Is This Enough To Put Her In Jail?

The Trigger in Music Class

What rule did your teacher break? I was in music class when I felt that familiar tingling in my fingers. I’d been seizure-free for three months, but I knew what was coming.

“Miss Blackwood, I need to get to the nurse,”

I said, already feeling the electricity building in my brain.

“I’m about to have a seizure.”

The substitute teacher rolled her eyes.

“Oh please, every kid suddenly has epilepsy now. It’s trendy.”

“No, you don’t understand.”

The tingling was spreading up my arm. I had maybe two minutes before I’d lose consciousness.

“I have a seizure action plan in my file.”

“Sit down.”

She stood up and walked to my desk, but instead of helping, she leaned over me.

“You know what my sister did when her daughter claimed to have seizures? She ignored them completely. Within a week, miraculously cured.”

Emily jumped up and ran toward the emergency button by the door.

“She’s not faking! I’ve seen her seizures before.”

The sub blocked her.

“The only thing seizing is her need for attention.”

The Substitute’s Cruelty

Then she did something I’ll never forget. She walked to the door, turned the deadbolt, and dropped the key in her pocket.

“Nobody leaves until she admits she’s faking. This victim complex is destroying your generation.”

“Call 911!”

Someone yelled, reaching for their phone.

“Phones in the box now,”

the sub grabbed the collection box,

“or you’re all suspended.”

My vision was starting to blur at the edges. Two minutes; that’s all I had before my brain would misfire completely. The number my neurologist made me memorize. That’s when my hated cousin Walsh decided to open his mouth.

“She used to fake seizures ever since she was little.”

The sub’s face lit up.

“See? Even her boyfriend knows she’s performing.”

She walked back to the Smartboard and pulled up YouTube.

“You know what really helps with fake seizures?”

She searched for “flashing strobe light 10 hours” and hit play.

“Exposure therapy. If you were really epileptic I wouldn’t do this, but since you’re faking…”

Lights, Chaos, and Darkness

The screen exploded with rapid flashing white, black, white, black. My brain felt like it was being electrocuted. Emily screamed,

“Turn it off! Photosensitive epilepsy is real!”

The sub cranked the brightness to max.

“Psychosomatic reaction. She believes she’s seizing so her body mimics it.”

That’s when David grabbed his head. I guess he had photosensitive epilepsy too because his whole body went rigid.

“I can’t… the lights…”

Everyone lost it. Kids were diving under desks, throwing jackets over their heads.

“Turn it off! Turn it off!”

Malik was trying to cover my eyes with his hands.

“Please don’t seize, please don’t seize.”

Ryan ran to the door and started slamming his shoulder into it.

“Help! Somebody help!”

The sub laughed.

“Sit down or you’re expelled.”

Three other kids were now on the floor. The strobing was triggering something in everyone: migraines, nausea, panic.

“Make it stop!”

Jenna was crying, hands pressed to her temples. Through the door window, Mr. Peter from next door looked in. The sub stepped in front of the window, blocking his view of the chaos, and gave a thumbs up before pulling down the shade. He walked away.

“This is torture!”

Emily screamed.

“One minute left.“