Epilepsy brought Jurgis injuries and barriers to work

Epileptic seizures have left Jurgis with repeated injuries and once led to an induced coma, but medication now helps him manage the condition, LRT reports. He works from home monitoring solar power plants, after years of difficulty finding a job suited to his needs.

Jurgis says he previously had seizures every two or three days, but now has them only a few times a month. He asked his doctor to increase his medication dose. “You have to take the medication, there’s nothing you can do,” he said.

His seizures have caused cuts to his eyebrows, forehead and lip, as well as repeated head injuries. He also has two false teeth. “Strangely enough, I’ve never broken a bone,” he said.

On one occasion, a seizure would not stop. A family friend found him at home and called an ambulance. At the hospital, doctors induced a coma, and Jurgis says it took five days for him to regain consciousness.

Jurgis trained as a cook but says working in a kitchen could be dangerous because of his epilepsy. He also cannot work as a driver, in physically demanding jobs or at height. Before his current role, he struggled to find official employment and mainly did informal online work for people abroad, including moderating channels and handling international communications.

He now works as a dispatcher-engineer for a company that maintains solar power plants. He monitors their operation, reports problems and prepares reports for clients. He says working from home is safer for him.

The organisation SOPA helped Jurgis look for work. Its head, Jurgita Kuprytė, told LRT that he had been unemployed for a long time and spent much of that period at home.