Fraser describes terrifying seizures and waking up on the floor with no memory of how he got there – claiming doctors kept him in the dark that he was epileptic
A Mirror journalist said the NHS failed to inform him he had been diagnosed with epilepsy and he went on to have two more life-threatening seizures.
Fraser Peel has described the two terrifying seizures after he underwent scans which found he was epileptic. The 29-year-old had suffered his first suspected seizure when he collapsed in his garden in the summer of 2020. He underwent brain scans but says he did not receive any letter informing him of any diagnosis.
Fraser said: “To be informed I am epileptic and hadn’t even been told, let alone given medication… it really took me back. I was driving for four of the following five years. Had I had a seizure at the wheel I could have killed myself or other road users. I could have had a seizure at any point and seriously endangered my life.”
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After his first seizure in 2020 Fraser was taken by ambulance to Medway Hospital where he says he was told it was “most likely a one off”. Despite this he was referred to King’s College Hospital in London where he underwent tests including an EEG scan.
Weeks later he received a letter which “didn’t specifically state any real finding” but did suggest he underwent more tests. Medway Hospital claims it sent him another letter informing Fraser of his diagnosis but he says he never received it.
Fraser says he also received no follow-up invite for tests and struggled to get hold of anyone at the hospital to chase this up as it was the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fraser, who works as a video journalist at the Mirror, explained: “After a period of time passed when I hadn’t suffered another seizure, I thought it just must have been down to me being out in the sun the day before and being dehydrated. I went about my life for the next four years, driving and living my life as if it had been a one-off.”
However Fraser’s world was turned upside down in October 2024 when he had a terrifying seizure while working from home. He said: “I was having quite a stressful day at work when all of a sudden a similar feeling came over me. I collapsed at my desk.
“My girlfriend, who was living with me, heard the sound of grunting. She came in to see me hunched over my desk convulsing. I then, according to her, came round and was attempting to stand up. I have no recollection of any of this.
“I eventually came round while she was on the phone to the ambulance. I was completely shaken up and was in tears. I felt a sense of panic and didn’t have any memory of the day before.”
Fraser was taken by ambulance to Medway Hospital again where he was told, as this was his second suspected seizure, he needed a follow-up appointment at King’s College Hospital again. At this point the DVLA was informed and he was provisionally banned from driving pending the result of further tests.
Two months later he had received no invite for an appointment and Fraser spent the best part of the next year chasing up both hospitals to get the further tests he had been told he needed. At one point King’s College Hospital told him they had no record of him being referred back to them.
In November this year he was on a walk with a friend in the North Downs and he started feeling the same odd feeling.
Fraser said: “My vision became shaky. I was struggling to put into words how I felt to my friend. And then the same situation, except this time I woke up on a muddy path not knowing where I was.”
A week after he was discharged from hospital and feeling “completely deflated”, Fraser contacted his GP. He said: “He proceeded to tell me over the phone that I had been diagnosed with epilepsy in 2020 after my initial brain scan at King’s. I was lost for words.
“How you can be diagnosed with a life-changing condition like epilepsy and not be informed of it just beggars belief.”
Fraser’s story comes after the case of William Chapman, 58, who doctors did not tell he was terminally ill – instead saying he would be ok.
An investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) this month concluded that doctors at the Countess of Chester Hospital failed to keep proper records or engage fully with Mr Chapman’s family.
Mr Chapman, known as Syd, only discovered he had deadly pulmonary fibrosis when his GP – who thought he already knew his prognosis – mentioned it during a phone call. He died eight months later.
Since the Mirror contacted Medway Hospital, it sent Fraser a letter confirming his diagnosis – which the trust said was sent in December 2020. He has also been offered a neurology appointment after having waited weeks for a call back.
A spokeswoman for the hospital said: “Medway NHS Foundation Trust wrote to Mr Peel and his GP in December 2020 to confirm a diagnosis of epilepsy. Following a subsequent seizure in October 2024, Mr Peel was referred by the Trust to neurology specialists at Kings College Hospital in January 2025. We are in touch with Mr Peel to help him access any support and treatment needed.”
Fraser responded: “My family and I are all 100% sure this letter never reached me, it’s the first time I’ve read it. Regardless of whether or not they sent the letter, I still think it was negligence on behalf of the NHS as I was offered no follow up medical support and lived for five more years unaware of my diagnosis.”
A spokeswoman for King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “In September 2020, the neurophysiology department at King’s College Hospital received a request from a neurologist at Mr Peel’s local hospital to perform an EEG. The EEG was carried out in November, and the EEG report was sent back to Mr Peel’s neurologist in December 2020.
“Mr Peel’s neurological care remained with his local neurology team, who would have interpreted the EEG findings in the context of a full clinical assessment.
“A subsequent referral for a specialist neurology review was made to King’s in January 2025, and we are investigating what stage this is currently at.”
