Lech Zapata-Rotz

Age: 14
Grade: 9
Market: Annville, Pennsylvania

Lech Zapata-Rotz is a vivacious and witty young man. An A and B student, he started having seizures when he was 10. Within the next three years, Lech tried many different types of medicines unsuccessfully, but when the neurologist mentioned brain surgery to his parents, they thought it was unthinkable to consider such for someone of his age.

Yet, just a few months later, the family reconsidered. It was one of the best decisions they’ve made—and they want people to know that epilepsy can happen to anyone, so everyone needs to learn more about it, and the treatment options available. They’re also deeply involved in trying to get more funding for epilepsy research so that some day there might be a cure.

“I would like everyone to know what epilepsy is and that if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone,” Lech said. “I have no other health problems, no family history, and no history of a head injury. The doctor says that most likely something in my brain just wasn’t connected correctly since I was a baby—it just didn’t cause a problem until I was growing up.”