Joey Quintana has epilepsy. He is now 22 years old and has been seizure free for the last decade, thanks to surgery.
A young man who once suffered seizures every day in school could change the way public schools across Colorado respond to seizures.
But, he says, he’ll never forget one particularly scary seizure he had in elementary school.
“The teacher came out and started holding my arms down. During my seizures, I could see still see, hear and feel everything,” he said. “This is something that’s happening to students all across Colorado, and in some instances there are injuries.”
Nearly 8,000 school-aged kids in Colorado have epilepsy and, because many schools don’t have a nurse, there is often no one who has training in seizure protocols — putting those students at risk. Quintana is on a mission at the state Capitol to change that — with the help of Representatives Kyle Mullica and Iman Jodeh.
“When Joey brought me his story, wanted to do something about it,” says Mullica.
He and Jodeh introduced “Joey’s Law,” named after Quitana. It would require every school have someone trained in seizure protocol.
“Another piece of the bill encourages parents to work with school nurses to come up with a plan so the school is ready if there is seizure,” says Mullica.
The bill applies to all K-12 public schools in Colorado.
Quintana is now a freshman at the University of Denver and, maybe no surprise, is studying public policy.
“This bill not just aimed at providing comfort to students, but also to protect, staff students and prevent injury and death,” says Quintana.
As for the bill being named after him, he says, “I think it’s great but this isn’t about me, this is about protecting all students across Colorado.”
The bill passed its first committee unanimously.
