Prince Rogers Nelson


Sunday morning, it is quiet outside. Even the road feels quiet, nothing like the usual matatu and boda boda madness. This happens every Sunday morning. The whole world slows down. Faithfuls go to church to unburden themselves and to also get blessings for the week ahead. I search for Prince’s “purple rain” in my play list and switch my speakers’ volume to full blast.

Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
I only wanted to see you
Bathing in the purple rain

A lot of us have heard ‘Purple Rain, most of us know its lyrics by heart. It is one of those songs that keep the memory of Prince Rogers Nelson alive among us. The younger generation know about Prince just because of this song; Purple Rain. But Prince sung and performed other songs too. One such song that caught my attention is; The sacrifice of a Victor.
Here are the lyrics from ‘The sacrifice of a Victor’;

I was born on a blood stained table
Cord wrapped around my neck
Epileptic till age of seven
I was sure heaven marked the Deck

This song, the Sacrifice of a Victor is one of the most courageous songs I have ever heard. In the song, Prince confesses that he was epileptic as a child.

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder caused by excessive electrical discharges from the brain resulting in seizures or convulsions. In our set up, most communities treat it as a taboo disease that afflicts the lowly, the cursed, and the ungodly.

While it is possible to lead a relatively normal life with epilepsy, a lot of men and women who suffer from epilepsy lead a less than normal life due to the huge stigma that surrounds epilepsy. Most people believe it is brought about by witch craft, curses, disobedience etc.

Lil Wayne
Epilepsy is a disease that affects normal sometimes highly performing people, Lil Wayne for example suffers from epilepsy (did you know that?). Lil Wayne has suffered from convulsions since he was a young boy. Here is what he told MTV correspondent Sway Calloway about his seizures ; ‘no warning, no nothing, I don’t feel sick, I get headaches real bad.’ What we know for sure is that, the rapper has suffered a number of seizures even in his prominence as an award winning rapper. He has had two emergency landings due to seizures and he nearly died in 2013 due to seizures.

While epilepsy has no definitive treatment currently, anti-convulasants can be used to effectively prevent the convulsions from occurring. Anti convulsants are drugs that are usually administered to prevent convulsions from occurring. They are prescription drugs that are normally prescribed by a physician. The type and number of drugs that one epileptic person receives normally depends on their age, severity of symptoms and whether they are pregnant or not.

When anticonvulsants are used correctly, one is able to lead a normal life with very few or no seizures. Other high achieving people with epilepsy include, Susan Boyle the famous Britain has got talent contestant, Neil Young, a musician and song writer and Theodre Roosevelt who was the 26th president of USA. This list no doubt contains immensely talented people who throughout their lives achieved more than those without epilepsy.




Many children exhibit echolalia i.e repeat phrases and words they hear.
Impaired social interaction-

1. They lack emotional reciprocity

Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities,
They become quite distressed if a routine is disrupted.

2.Insensitive to pain or temperature, light or noise.


4 they have highly restricted and fixated interests.

