Future surgeon Jaden Henry wants to help fight brain disease
Published:Monday | September 2, 2024 | 12:07 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
Four years after Jaden Henry suffered his first episode of epilepsy, the 12-year-old child knows what he wants to become in the future. That is a neurologist, the professionals he goes to for care and treatment.
Jaden, one of the 41 Courts Dare to Dream 2024 scholarship recipients awarded on Friday, is determined to become a neurologist because he wants to assist persons in fighting brain-based diseases, just as he has had to.
The past student of St Johns Primary School in St Catherine was diagnosed with benign Rolandic epilepsy and absence seizures in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Benign Rolandic epilepsy, or self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes, is the most common epilepsy syndrome in childhood.
Most children will outgrow the syndrome, hence the label benign. The seizures, sometimes referred to as sylvian seizures, start around the central sulcus of the brain.
“This caused some adjustments to my daily life, which, now, I’m unable to maintain focus sometimes, which can be very challenging, and I’m now required to take medication twice a day on time. I’m also required to sleep very early, even on the weekends, in order to manage it,” Henry told The Gleaner on Friday after he was awarded his scholarship valued at $100,000 cash from Courts for his outstanding performance in the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations. He has also been awarded a place at the prestigious Ardenne High School.
‘A scary feeling’
Nyaesha Heholt, his mother, said when he experienced his first episode of epilepsy, she was scared.
“I remember when it first happened. It was during COVID, and he was in the back room, and I was working from home, and I kept hearing someone trying to gasp for breath, and I saw him shaking,” Heholt recalled.
“It was a scary scary feeling at the time. I wasn’t sure what to do. I remember seeing something on television,where you put them on their side, and that was it, and when he came out of it, I rushed to the hospital.”
She said it happened a second time, and then she was introduced to a neurologist for treatment to begin, and a mapping of his brain was done, along with a series of tests.
Now, Jaden’s episodes are minimal with the proper administration of medication.
“Since he’s been on his medication, and ensuring that he’s taking his medication on time, during study time, especially during PEP time, because it is a lot of information to grasp, and to study, we take breaks in between, and we just ensure that we set a timetable for studying and do our visits to the neurologist,” Heholt told The Gleaner.
She said she also ensures that he gets eight hours of sleep and prepares for future days.”
The Courts Dare to Dream scholarship initiative offered $7.7 million in cash to 12 outstanding college students, who each received $400,000 towards their tuition, and 29 PEP students (one per Courts store), each receiving $100,000 towards their school fees, books, and uniforms.