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Surgery promises 'better life' for epilepsy sufferer

Andy Gill
BBC News•Liverpool
BBC Georgie Peterson: a woman with long, blonde hair wearing a pink topBBC
Georgie Peterson has been affected by severe seizures since the age of 17

For about 15 years, Georgie Peterson has been unable to drive, work or take public transport on her own due to severe epilepsy.

Now she hopes a new surgical treatment will have a life-changing impact, by reducing those seizures.

The 32-year-old, from Crosby in Merseyside, told BBC North West Tonight: "I have absences where I completely zone-out - forget who I'm with, what I'm doing...

"I can't work, I can't drive - even public transport, I can't get it on my own - it has to be with someone, all the time."

In 2023, doctors implanted electrodes in her brain so they could determine which part of her brain was causing the seizures.

The area was too deep to allow for conventional surgery, but a new method has been developed, which involves drilling a tiny hole in her skull and inserting a probe and laser to destroy the problem brain cells.

Jibril Farah: a bearded man, wearing a blue surgical outfit and head wrap, pointing to a brain scan on a PC monitor.
Neurosurgeon Jibril Farah says the new procedure is "highly effective"

Ms Peterson underwent the operation on Thursday at Liverpool's Walton Centre, which is the only hospital in northern England to currently offer the procedure.

Speaking ahead of the surgery, she said: "I really need a better quality of life."

"My life is not terrible - because of the people in it - but without the people, it would be pretty terrible."

The technology used in the process is not new, the difference is the way the equipment works in combination.

Consultant neurosurgeon Jibril Farah explained: "The combination of the MRI scan, which acts like a big thermometer, and the laser, which does the burning of the tissue - the combination of all of this - has led to this new treatment, which is highly effective."

Following Thursday's procedure, Mr Farah said he and his team were pleased with how the operation went, and Ms Petersen is expected to return home soon.

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