Healthwatch

Ravens' Samari Rolle Speaks On Managing Epilepsy

BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― Nearly a year ago, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle faced the cameras and made the admission he had the brain disorder epilepsy.

Healthwatch reporter Kellye Lynn recently caught up with Rolle at the Ravens training facility to find out how he's managing his condition and managing to continue to play football.

It's something Samari Rolle never imagined. He was healthy and enjoying his professional football career when he suddenly began to have chronic seizures.

Rolle now faces the game of football with a renewed sense of confidence.

"I appreciate football more. While I'm still playing, I put everything into it," said Rolle.

It's a long way from where he was a year ago.

The popular cornerback had been suffering from seizures and convulsions during sleep.

"I happened to wake up, and my tongue was bitten badly, and I had blood on my shirt," said Rolle.

Doctors diagnosed epilepsy, a brain disorder that affects about three million people in the U.S.

"Epilepsy is an emotionally charged word, but all it means is a propensity to have recurrent seizures," said Dr. Gregory Bergey, Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Dr. Bergey, director of Johns Hopkins' Epilepsy Center, says while it's unclear what triggered Rolle's epilepsy, anything that disrupts the normal pattern of brain activity like illness, trauma or abnormal brain development can lead to seizures.

"That's when someone loses consciousness, falls down, has convulsive activity, stiffening and jerking of hands and legs," said Dr. Bergey. "It lasts only a minute or two, but if you're driving or playing cornerback, a minute or two can have a major impact on what you're doing."

The treatment would be medications to control seizures. But for Samari Rolle, they were ineffective.

He and his wife Danisha were also concerned about side effects like drowsiness and impaired thinking. The veteran player considered retiring, but his doctor wasn't ready to give up hope.

"If we choose the right medicines that don't impair his ability to perform, there's no reason he can't return to play football," said Dr. Bergey.

The drugs Keppra and Lamictal proved to be a winning combination. They reduced Rolle's seizures without unwanted side effects.

Now, the man whose name means strength in Swahili is living up to it on the football field.

"My head is clear, my mind is set free. I'm not worried about how my body feels," said Rolle. "I'm here. I'm 100 percent."

Rolle says he has to take 84 pills a week to manage his epilepsy, but since the drugs are preventing the seizures, he's not complaining.

When Samari Rolle is not on the field playing football, he devotes time to organizations like the Epilepsy Foundation to help increase awareness and funding.

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