Madie Smith doesn’t remember much about that early summer morning two years ago.
There were some mornings she would wake up bothered by some twitching. But this was different. This was something much more. A loud thud coming from the sound of her head slamming against a drawer was something different for sure.
The noise woke up Smith’s older sister, Morgan, and when she entered her younger sister’s room she saw a scene that still brings her to tears.
Smith, a senior setter for the Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball team, was experiencing a full-blown epileptic seizure. Morgan, who also played at CdM and graduated in 2002, shouted for her mother as she quickly turned over her younger sister.
Soon, an ambulance came and took Smith to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with epilepsy, a brain disorder that is known to cause seizures.
Today, she has had no relapses of a seizure since. She’s also not hesitant to talk about that horrific morning that left her scared to fall asleep for fear that she would never awaken. Instead she uses her ailment for motivation, also as a form of discipline. She wants others who have epilepsy to know they can go on with their lives, and for some they can compete in sports.
She also wants to continue to be a leader for the Sea Kings, as they prepare for their CIF Southern Section Division II-AA championship match. CdM plays against Redlands East Valley, a rematch of last year’s final, Saturday at 1 p.m. at Cypress College.
The match is a big challenge for the Sea Kings. But Smith is no stranger to difficult obstacles. After her seizure, she had to be in a wheelchair for a little more than a week as her body adapted to medicine.
During the Sea Kings’ summer league matches, Smith rolled in to support her teammates, who were dismayed to see their setter in a wheelchair.
Smith also had her driver’s license taken away because doctors initially thought the seizures would occur again.
And then when night came, the real trouble appeared.
“More than anything I was scared of dying in my sleep,” she said. “That was the biggest fear for me.”
