Epilepsy Talk

Read this and weep…  | April 20, 2026

“She was having a seizure. Police shocked her with a taser.

This is the story of how an Alabama teen sought justice after a violent police encounter upended her life.“

RAINBOW CITY, Ala. — Seventeen-year-old Tiara Helm danced and bobbed her head to the music, swaying among hundreds of concert-goers packed inside a theater in this small city northeast of Birmingham. Rapper Kevin Gates electrified the crowd as strobe lights pulsed.

Suddenly, Helm collapsed. Her body convulsed. Her head thrashed against the concrete floor.

She was gripped by one of the seizures that had plagued her since a car accident. When the high school junior came to, she found four Rainbow City police officers on top of her, pinning her down. Scared and disoriented, she begged to be let go and fought to get free.

The officers, who initially tried to keep her from hurting herself, decided she had become combative, according to multiple court records. They tightened their holds, leaving red marks on her arms. One wrapped his forearm around her neck in a headlock.

A fifth officer arrived — armed with a taser. He warned her he would use it if she didn’t settle down and behave. She cursed at him. He pressed the taser into her abdomen and pulled the trigger. Her body jerked. She screeched in pain…

To read more, click here:  https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/12/02/she-was-having-a-seizure-police-shocked-her-with-a-taser?fbclid=IwAR3LTM6aYvkKkcW9__5eNDOgv6fj_l-3gfvUsTYY8j8gg26apxkbXbJZssg

This article was published in partnership with USA Today Network, Montgomery Advertiser and AL.com.

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