Kimberly Laura Bartlett was born on September 13, 1989 and passed away on May 11, 2015. 

Kimberly grew up in Massachusetts and graduated student council president from High School in 2007. She went on to study History at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth and graduated in 2011 from Bridgewater State University. At the time of her passing, Kimberly was the Operations Manager for the E-Cig Barn LLC, a company she started with her dad, and she was pursuing her Masters in Human Resources Management at Emmanuel College in Boston, Massachusetts. 

In 25 years, Kimberly truly lived her life to the fullest. She loved life, her family, and being with her fiancé, Ryan and their adopted rescue puppy, Marshall, who she treated like a child. Growing up the fifth child of six, Kimberly loved being around her family and was the most happy when everyone was together. She couldn’t wait for her upcoming wedding and was so proud of Ryan, their home, and their life together. From traveling the world to making a home for her little family, Kimberly always did what made her happy. She gave the best advice, had the most contagious laugh, always made sure everyone was included, and was truly beautiful inside and out.

 
A month before her passing, Kimberly had a seizure in her sleep. Ryan woke up and found her seizing and rushed her to the hospital. For the next month she underwent a series of tests and the doctors agreed that her seizure was likely a onetime incident and wouldn’t happen again.

On May 11th, Kimberly experienced her second known seizure in her sleep and didn’t wake up.

Kimberly didn’t know she had epilepsy and is only aware of the one seizure she experienced a month before her passing. It is likely that she suffered several seizures in her sleep without even knowing.

Kimberly was a happy and healthy young woman looking forward to the rest of her life. Her death is a huge shock to her family and friends and we miss her every single day. 

In Kimberly’s memory, her family and friends have established the “Living for Kimberly” foundation to spread awareness about epilepsy and Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). Our mission is to support families that are also fighting this brain disease and to commemorate Kimberly’s beautiful life through awareness. With her life cut so short, we intend to honor her memory by Living for Kimberly every day.  

 

Jaimee Bartlett

Global Conversation 2016