This bonuscast celebrates International Epilepsy Month with an in-depth conversation with model Ariish Wol. Born in South Sudan, Ariish moved to Canada as a young child.
She was diagnosed with epilepsy at 14. Her modelling career started with Vogue Italia and she not looked back since, most recently fronting campaigns for H&M and appearing at Paris Fashion Week.
She talks about how she balances her wellbeing with the intense pace of modelling work, her dreams and discoveries. Ariish reflects on her upbringing, her epilepsy diagnosis and the traumatic events that shaped her. She also explains her huge struggle to cope as a young mother when hospitalised by seizures. The conversation covers some sensitive issues that may be upsetting to some listeners, including child sexual abuse and Ariish’s decision to put her child up for adoption.
You can find Ariish on her Instagram @ ariish_wol
MIND offers support to adult survivors of child sex abuse: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/abuse/#SexualAbuseSupportForAdults
Support is available to help parents with epilepsy. To find out more about caring for a baby or young child when you have epilepsy, visit https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/caring-children or contact the Epilepsy Action Helpline on freephone 0808 800 50 50.
