The storyline surrounds the character, two-year-old Eliza, who has epilepsy and cerebral palsy. She is discovered to have bruises on her arms and her aunt Priya (played by Fiona Wade) is accused of child abuse.
Young Epilepsy helped on script editing and consultation, ensuring Emmerdale portrayed their link with epilepsy and social work was done with accuracy and appropriate sensitivity.
Clare Harrisson, the charity’s specialist epilepsy nurse was paramount to editing the storyline’s most important scenes. She says:
It was a great pleasure to be involved in the latest Emmerdale storyline around a young child with epilepsy. It is an ambitious storyline to which it was important to get right. Epilepsy can be a highly misunderstood condition and the bruising portrayed by the character Eliza, shows just some of the problems that can arise as a result of something that may appear straightforward.
The episodes in question aired on Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 March 2018 with the plot reaching its climax a month later, on Wednesday 4 April, where it was revealed the bruising was due to a change in medication.
Young Epilepsy’s helpline is open Monday to Friday, 9am-1pm if you feel you’ve been affected by Eliza’s storyline.
