Cath Shanks Takes Over: Skateboards, Slacklining and Urban Exploring with Epilepsy

On Tuesday 19th May, I handed over the Seize Your Adventure Instagram account to Cath Shanks,  a skate coach who was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy in 2010. In this bonus episode, you get to hear how it went, and listen to the Instagram Live interview we had afterwards.

I've only discovered Cath recently, and her account @specialeptic is still new. But the account is a mix of great fun and heart-breakingly honest:

"SOME DAYS.... some days are harder than others. some days are that little bit darker. some days it’s not even the seizures that are the problem. some days I think I’d rather have seizures than take meds. some days it’s just a little bit too much to cope with. some days I can pull myself out of the rut, some days I can’t. some days Epilepsy sucks WAY MORE than others. some days I just wish I had a different brain. some days, like today."

Cath has also been learning to slackline during lockdown. Which is just so cool. You can see some of her progress on her YouTube channel.

Cath talks about:

• Her cocktail of epileptic seizures

• Learning to skateboard as an adult

• Why an all-woman skateboarding lesson was perfect for her

• Having a seizure whilst teaching at summer camp

• How she got a job teaching skateboarding

• The comfort she has found in the epilepsy community

• Doing jigsaws in lockdown

• And more... 

Find Cath on Instagram as @specialeptic

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MUSIC:

Kev Rowe on Soundcloud | Creative Commons Attribution License

This interview has an automated transcript available:

https://www.seizeyouradventure.com/transcripts 

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Seize Your Adventure is part of the Tremula Network - adventure and outdoor podcasts off the beaten track. To find out more, head to tremula.network