Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy

Jim Shannon Excerpts
Wednesday 22nd April 2026

(1 day, 8 hours ago)

Commons Chamber
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Olly Glover Portrait Olly Glover
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I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and pay tribute to his constituent and their family. I am going to be talking quite a lot about what we can do to prevent such occurrences in the future.

Jim Shannon Portrait Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
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First, I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing this debate forward. I spoke to him beforehand and, like the hon. Member for Bracknell (Peter Swallow), I am here to represent my constituents and those who are affected by this issue in Northern Ireland. SUDEP affects one in 1,000 people with epilepsy annually, which includes many cases in Northern Ireland, yet many families say that they are unaware of the dangers of these night-time tonic-clonic seizures. Does the hon. Member not agree, as he to what the Government need to do, that more must be done to educate patients and family members to ensure that the information is known and that precautions can thereby be taken?