Twenty-nine-year-old Louis Harris is an engineer who lives life to the fullest. He didn’t always have the freedom to do what he wanted, and wasn’t sure he’d ever get the chance. That’s why he treasures even the little things.
Growing up with epilepsy
At five years old, Louis was diagnosed with epilepsy.
It quickly took over his life—and his whole family’s.
He would have seizures with no warning. He tried medication after medication, but never found one that really worked. At home, his family was constantly on guard, with his parents always on alert for the slightest sound during the night. When day rolled around, his teachers and friends had to be ready in case of emergency.
Living with epilepsy means living with uncertainty. And for children, it means growing up unable to do the same things as your peers.
Life-changing treatment at the CHUM
Things really started to change once Louis started seeing Dr. Nguyen, a neurologist at the CHUM.
After a series of advanced tests, Louis’s medical team was able to locate exactly where his seizures originated, the key to treating his epilepsy.
The team recommended that ten-year-old Louis undergo surgery.
A few days after the operation, he met up with his friends outside. He even brought a baseball, though it was a tad softer than most, just in case. But the thing that mattered most to him?
He got to play. He got to laugh. He got to be a kid, finally.
“I don’t know where I’d be today without the surgery.”
Giving back to epilepsy research
Today, Louis leads a full and active life, while continuing to check up regularly with his doctor.
He has his eyes on the future, but hasn’t forgotten how he got here.
He’s now working with the CHUM in a new way: combining his engineering skills with Dr. Nguyen’s insights to design miniature tools that make it easier for clinical teams to do their jobs, in particular during cortical stimulation.
In March 2026, Louis shared his story with 100 or so attendees at the Partie de sucre, a fundraiser for the CHUM’s neurology department.
Louis’s incredible story was only possible thanks to the CHUM’s teams, breakthroughs in neurology and the support of donors who choose to invest in research and care.
Right now, there are kids out there going through the same things that Louis did. But we can help them write a new chapter, all thanks to groundbreaking research.