Epilepsy is one word that recent Madison graduate Nick Bezold won’t allow to limit what he does athletically.
On Tuesday night, Bezold finished his senior season of soccer for the Mustangs.
(Photo: PAM DIETZ/The Jackson Sun)
“Epilepsy is something that I have dealt with my entire life,” Bezold said. “It is unpredictable. I never know when I am going to have one. Like some, I don’t have an aura.”
Nick’s mom Julie Bezold calls soccer his escape and something that he puts a lot of energy into.
“Soccer is something that I love to do, and usually when I feel energized, it doesn’t affect me,” Nick Bezold said. “By playing soccer, I feel like a normal teen.”
Nick and his family have tried many treatments to try to make the seizure less frequent, but most have only marginally helped.
“I have tried diets,” Bezold said. “I have tried surgery. I am on a lot of medicine that we are hoping neutralizes it.”
Julie has also started organizing the Purple Way 5K to raise awareness and funds for epilepsy. Purple is the awareness color for epilepsy.
At this year’s race last week, the effects of epilepsy got the better of Nick.
“At the Purple Way 5K on Monday, a seizure hit me right at mile 1,” Bezold said. “You just never know when they are going to hit.”
And even though soccer is Nick’s escape, a seizure happened on the sideline earlier this season.
“This season I was on the sideline, and I just went into one,” Bezold said. “It is nerve-racking because I don’t want people to judge me. I can see it in people.”
