Alexandre Lafont alias “Epileptic Man” created the Youtube channel of the same name. Its aim is to raise public awareness of this disease with funny and informative videos.
Epileptic Man is the first epileptic superhero! The new darling of the web is indeed making a sensational entry on Youtube. His videos seen by thousands of Internet users aim to raise awareness about epilepsy, through funny and informative sequences. Why ? “Because this disease rots the lives of 2 million French people,” explains Alexandre Lafont, whose real name is. At the age of 20, the young man has suffered from this neurological disease since he was 14 years old.
But Epileptic Man is not fatalistic. Like all superheroes, he’s here to make a difference. “I make videos for all tastes, I talk a lot about science (neurology, biology coupled with math) and popular science of the brain and neurological diseases in general”, explains Alexandre Lafont.
An epileptic facing an employer
The last one posted is thus called “The Interview”. This is a 5-minute short film that tells of a hiring session for a young man with epilepsy. Facing him, an employer reluctant to recruit people with disabilities.
The future employee (or not?) will have to use intelligence and honesty in order to convince that he is also, even more capable than an able-bodied person. This short film has taken part in many Film Festivals, in particular that of “Regards Croisés” which took place on October 7 and 8.
In other videos, dubbed “The Adventures of Epileptic Man”, the latter also talks about his experience of the disease (with a small dose of humor). His 2,000 subscribers therefore find him faced with his little problems. Mentioned in particular are body aches following an epileptic fit or the small inconveniences that the disease causes in the life of a couple.
3,000 deaths per year in France
As a reminder, epilepsy is one of the most costly diseases, with an overall cost estimated at 0.2% of the GDP of industrialized countries. According to Epilepsie-France, it is also responsible for significant excess mortality, with 33,000 deaths per year in Europe, including 3,000 in France.
A third of these deaths could be avoided by better organization of care, believe these activists. Finally, the World Health Organization (WHO) stresses that epilepsy continues to suffer from an unjustified stigma, reflecting a deep level of ignorance of this pathology. This translates into health and research investments related to its prevalence much lower than those of other diseases.
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