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A woman who was left “severely epileptic” following multiple brain surgeries and whose seizures often leave her “black and blue” has said “Specsavers saved (her) life” as she had four unexpected and “frightening” convulsions during a routine eye examination and they were able to deliver first aid in her home. Jackie Rice, 56, who lives with her partner of 13 years Louise Cartwright, 55, who is paralysed and uses a wheelchair, was diagnosed with epilepsy about three years ago. As a result of her condition, Jackie, who lives in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, said she takes up to 20 pills every day and does not leave her home as she is “too frightened” that she will have a seizure. She cannot cook as she may burn herself or “set fire to (her) place” if she has a seizure; she has lost her driving licence, and she often sustains severe bruising from “smashing (her) face and head” during convulsions. Her seizures often cause her to wet herself as well, which she said is “embarrassing”. Because she is afraid to leave the house, she is reliant on the support of remote services, such as the Specsavers home eye tests, and is visited by a carer once a week . It was during a recent sight test visit that she had several epileptic seizures and started “banging her head against the wall”. Although she has no memory of it now, she believes she “would have been dead” if the Specsavers team had not visited her home that day. “They saved my life,” Jackie said. “My partner was in a different room, waiting for a carer, so she couldn’t help – it was awful. “I would have been dead – there are no two ways about it because there was nothing Louise could have done.” Nearly three years ago, Jackie said, Louise found her “unconscious in bed” as she had “collapsed”. After being taken to hospital, it was discovered Jackie had a hearing infection and three abscesses on the brain, which she believes were left undetected for a while. Jackie, who does not have any children and no longer works, remained unconscious and underwent three brain surgeries before waking up at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) three weeks later. She said the procedures have left her deaf in her left ear and severely epileptic, and she now has about one seizure per week. “Four weeks after I had to put my dog to sleep, that’s when Louise found me,” Jackie said. “When I came around, I didn’t know where I was, I didn’t know who I was, or anything. “Because of the operations on my brain, it sent me delirious.” Jackie said she was told she tried to climb out of a hospital window during the recovery period, and she was not discharged until three months later. As a result of her epilepsy diagnosis, Jackie said she now takes up to 20 pills every day, and only leaves the house, accompanied by a carer, for necessary appointments or check-ups. Jackie said she does not know what triggers her seizures, but they often leave her “black and blue”. “The seizures come out of nowhere,” Jackie said. “I’m just recovering from a seizure at the moment – I have black eyes, a busted head and a banged-up face. “I’m black and blue again.” She said she spends her days with Louise, playing Candy Crush on her phone and watching sport on TV – she is a huge Liverpool Football Club fan. She is reliant on remote services to help her look after her health and wellbeing, but she never anticipated that she would have multiple seizures during a recent eye examination at home with Specsavers. All she can remember is starting the eye test and then “coming round in hospital three days later”, which she said was “very scary”. “It really does scare you when you wake up,” Jackie said. “I just thought, oh, where’s Louise? What’s happening? “You have no recollection of where you are.” Domiciliary optometrist Paula Conway, 52, who works for Specsavers based in York, covering the North Yorkshire area, remembers the day vividly. She and her optical assistant Charlotte Wilson visited Jackie’s home on January 13 for the routine eye examination. Just days earlier, on January 9, Paula explained that they had undergone first aid training from instructor Karl Whittaker at St John Ambulance. Little did Paula know that this training would be invaluable when visiting Jackie, as Karl talked in depth about what to do in the event that someone has a seizure. “I was about to proceed with the sight test and, all of a sudden, she just started rocking backwards and forwards, and I just thought, oh, this looks like a seizure,” Paula said. “She started to bang her head against the wall, so I managed to get a cushion behind her, and I knew I had to move all the objects out the way.” Paula said Jackie had four seizures “one after the other”, but with the support of Charlotte, they were able to put a duvet cover down on the floor to protect her. They then placed her in the recovery position while she was unconscious and called for an ambulance, after which paramedics arrived and took Jackie to hospital. While Paula and Charlotte were able to “stay calm” and keep Jackie safe during her seizures, Paula said it was an “extremely frightening experience” and they “both felt quite shaken afterwards”. “I think it was just really lucky that we were there, and we knew how to handle the situation,” Paula said. “Without the first aid training, I really don’t know what we would have done, it could have been a completely different situation altogether.” While Jackie does not remember what happened, she said the team “saved (her) life” – and she feels “very lucky” that Paula and Charlotte were there that day. She has since given them a bouquet of flowers, as a token of her appreciation, and wants to raise awareness of the Specsavers home visits team and the importance of first aid training. “I’d like to say thank you to the team for saving my life and for looking after Louise,” Jackie said. “If they hadn’t have used first aid, I don’t know what would have happened to me, so I think everyone who does home visits needs to have first aid training. “I didn’t know I was going to fit that day, I never know, so it could have been a very different outcome.” For more information about Specsavers home eye tests, visit www.specsavers.co.uk/home-eye-tests. 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Rafael Leao was guilty of an incredible miss which let Newcastle off the hook as their Champions League opener at AC Milan finished goalless. The Portugal international, who was Newcastle star Sandro Tonali’s team-mate at San Siro until his £53million summer switch to Tyneside, completely fluffed his lines with only goalkeeper Nick Pope to beat after attempting an audacious flick at the end of a stunning 34th-minute run and only succeeded in tripping himself. Pope will feel he had already earned his slice of good fortune after making five first-half saves in the space of six minutes to pave the way for a 0-0 draw which banked a priceless first point for the Magpies’ Group F account on their return to European football’s top table after an absence of 20 years. For the seven-time winners, who were thrashed 5-1 by derby rivals Inter Milan on Saturday, there was no salvation on a night when they created enough chances, but were unable to take any of them, much to the annoyance of the locals among a crowd of 65,695. Pope had to come to Newcastle’s rescue five times in quick succession after Dan Burn, one of two Geordies in Eddie Howe’s starting line-up, allowed the ball to run across him, forcing Sven Botman to make a hurried clearance. Midfielder Tommaso Pobega pounced on the loose ball to test the keeper from distance and Pope had to react swiftly to repel Samuel Chukwueze’s header as the ball was recycled before denying Olivier Giroud from point-blank range with his defenders unable to keep the red and black shirts at bay. The England international then tipped away Rade Krunic’s raking drive and turned Giroud’s 19th-minute header over the bar after he had been left criminally unmarked from the resulting corner. Ruben Loftus-Cheek blazed over from long range after once again bursting through the black and white cover with Howe’s men under sustained pressure with Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Sean Longstaff struggling to exert any control in midfield. Longstaff was appealing in vain for a 31st-minute penalty after going down under Leao’s challenge and as Spanish referee Jose Sanchez waved play on, Theo Hernandez broke down the left and crossed for Giroud a the near post, only to see him fire wastefully wide. Leao should have put Milan ahead 11 minutes before the break when he carved his way into the penalty area and past three lunging tackles to go one-on-one with Pope, but inexplicably tried to back-heel the ball home from six yards and simply fell over with Jacob Murphy hacking Pobega’s follow-up off the line. Murphy mustered the Magpies’ first attempt with a curling 41st-minute shot which flew well wide after Kieran Tripper, Longstaff and Alexander Isak had combined well, but there was a measure of relief when the half-time whistle sounded with the score still at 0-0. Tonali blasted a shot straight at defender Malick Thiaw and Murphy blazed high and wide as Newcastle returned determined to make an impression as an attacking force. Milan’s build-up play was patient, but the holes which had appeared in the visitors’ defence at regular intervals before the break remained stubbornly closed after it. Howe made his move with 27 minutes remaining when he sent on Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron for Anthony Gordon and Murphy, although Pope had to field a stabbed shot from substitute Tijjani Reijnders within seconds. Frustration grew among the Rossoneri ranks with Hernandez chancing his arm from all of 35 yards only for Botman to thump his attempt away, although Tonali was applauded warmly by the home fans when he was replaced by Elliot Anderson with 18 minutes remaining. Leao might have atoned for his first-half blunder when he dived to meet Alessandro Florenzi’s 74th-minute cross, but he sent his header over Pope’s crossbar, and a late flurry by Milan was met with stern resistance as the game ended goalless, but only after substitute keeper Marco Sportiello had tipped Longstaff’s stoppage-time pile-driver over. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Adam Rossington century rescues Essex against Hampshire Ant and Dec relish Newcastle’s European adventure – Tuesday’s sporting social Jos Buttler felt a sense of duty to inform Jason Roy of World Cup omission