VENICE — Adin Donatelli was living the teenage dream of social outings and late night adventures until his life took a turn in 2020.
The Venice High School student began experiencing severe headaches and fatigue, shrinking his ability to attend school and social events with friends.
Then the seizures came.
Amanda Donatelli, Adin’s mother, said she began finding her son passed out in various places around the house and outside, covered in bruises and cuts from having an episode.
They later learned he is suffering from epilepsy.
Adin said the episodes would come with no notice, eventually hindering him from even going outside without an attendant.
“For me, whenever I have one, I like, don’t really feel it coming on at all. It just kind of happens out of the blue,” Adin said. “It just sucks. It’s not a fun feeling.”
Adin graduated from Venice High with little hope for his future. The highlights of his day now consist of the occasional family road trip up the street.
“Any chance I get, I’ll probably end up going to go for a car ride or something like that, just because I can’t really go out and do a lot, because of the chance of me ending up spazzing out of the blue,” Adin said.