Martial arts champ, James Bailey reveals struggle with epilepsy

James Bailey, from Kelvedon, began suffering from seizures after he fell and banged his head on a pavement outside his parents’ home when he was two years old.

The gold medallist at the European Championships was diagnosed with “uncontrollable epilepsy” and was told he would have to wear a crash helmet every day and would lose the use of the right side of his body.

But James, 27, refused to be defined by his condition and after leaving school took up martial arts and boxing – despite being told another blow to the head could be disastrous.

James competed for Britain in kuk sool won, a mix of Korean fighting styles used by Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.

He was widely considered to be one of the best in the UK and scooped gold, silver and bronze medals in three disciplines at the 2014 championships.

Now James has spoken for the first time about how a severe form of epilepsy caused by brain injury caused him to fit at least once every five minutes.

While most only last a few minutes, some are for up to 45 minutes.

James Bailey in hospital in 2018. See SWNS story SWBRjudo; A martial arts champion who won gold at the European Championships has revealed his lifelong fight with epilepsy - and how he suffers up to 250 seizures per DAY. James Bailey from Essex, began

In total James reckons he has suffered more than half a million fits in his lifetime.

But thanks to a recent adjustment in his medication, he has been seizure-free for the past seven months.

“Epilepsy has without doubt been the hardest fight of my life,” he said.

“A lot of people with epilepsy have three seizures a week – I absolutely blow that out of the water.

“In terms of seizures, I am like a Ferrari. I rapidly go from 0 to 100, and as soon as the doctors get my medicine right, I stop just as quickly.

“When you take into account that I average at least 150 seizures per day when uncontrolled, and I have spent approximately eight and a half years in total uncontrolled, then I must have had 465,000 seizures to date, and that’s being conservative.”

James’ battle began when he fell and banged his head when he was two. He suffered damage to his left temporal lobe and began experiencing violent fits every few minutes.

The seizures were so frequent he had to sleep in his parents’ bed and was only allowed to bathe in three inches of water to prevent him from drowning.

As a schoolboy, he was labelled a “freak” and bullied about his uncontrolled spasms.

His schoolwork and grades suffered because of the amount of time he spent in hospital and the powerful medicine he was prescribed.

James Bailey

But despite the setbacks, and against the advice of neurologists, James took up judo, boxing, and kuk sool won, excelling at all three.

By the age of 20, James had reached the level of black belt and was teaching classes.

His condition means his medication must be regularly adjusted to control his fits.

If the medication is working correctly, James can go months without a major seizure.

He currently runs two successful businesses – a landscape gardening company and a personal security firm protecting well-heeled clients.

He has also developed his own street-wise system of self-defence, incorporating elements of kuk sool won, judo, jiu-jitsu, boxing and krav maga, which he teaches exclusively to multi-millionaire businesspeople.

James Bailey starting high school. See SWNS story SWBRjudo; A martial arts champion who won gold at the European Championships has revealed his lifelong fight with epilepsy - and how he suffers up to 250 seizures per DAY. James Bailey from Essex, began

James has penned a book about his life called Light In The Shadows: A Life of Epilepsy, which hits the shelves this week.

He has also launched a GoFundMe page to fund a one-to-one mentoring service for people with epilepsy and other conditions, as well for those who have been bullied.

He said: “I know it may be difficult for some people to understand, but for me, my condition isn’t a curse – it’s a blessing.

“It has allowed me to gain all this experience that I can now use to help others.

“I may not be able to change the world, but I can change the world for someone else.”