Timothy Alexander, 26, died on Nov. 22 after suffering several seizures at the Glenwood Resource Center, in Glenwood.

Tim moved to the Glenwood Resource Center in 2003. Around that time, he had a Vagus Nerve Stimulation device installed to help control his epilepsy. VNS devices work by sending pulses of electrical energy to the brain through the vagus nerve from a device similar to a pacemaker. The device is implanted under the skin on the leftside of the chest. A feature of the device is that a magnet can be passed over the device to stop seizures for some people.

Georgette said the magnet stopped Tim’s seizures every time it was used.

Tim’s first seizure occurred when he was 6 years old. He had to be flown to Iowa City after the seizure, and his heart stopped beating twice on the way to Iowa City. Tim had seizures annually until he turned 11, then he was seizure-free from when he was 11 and 1/2 years old to 16 and 1/2. His mother, Georgette Alexander, said he was disappointed when his seizures returned because he had been looking forward to getting a driver’s license.

Once he was 17, seizures came more often. Before an attack, Tim would become aggressive and have headaches. Georgette said if he had a seizure, everyone knew to keep an eye on him, because more seizures were likely during the next 24 to 48 hours.

Tim played challenger league baseball and worked at Hy-Vee for four to five months. He also rode his bike, rollerskated and competed in the Special Olympics. He graduated from Oskaloosa High School in 2001.

Georgette said Tim really liked the first Glenwood house he was in and made progress with some behavior problems, but was moved 5 to 6 times over the next five years.

During his time at Glenwood, Tim would return home monthly for a week at time. The last time Tim was at home in Oskaloosa was the last week before Halloween. During that week, he had six seizures in two days.

Georgette put together how Tim died from talking with Glenwood staff members.

On Nov. 19, Tim began choking at supper and had a seizure. A staff member called Georgette’s husband and said that Tim was on his way to the hospital. That night, Tim was taken back from the hospital and placed in Glenwood’s infirmary.

Georgette said Tim was usually kept in the infirmary for a couple days after a seizure, because more seizures were usually on the way.

Instead of staying in the infirmary for a couple days, Tim was sent back to his Glenwood house. Early on Nov. 20, Georgette said staff noticed Tim was having a seizure and used a magnet on Tim, and he was fine. A doctor then ordered that Tim had to be monitored every 15 minutes.

In the morning, Tim had eaten breakfast, taken his medicine and gone back to bed. At 10:16 a.m., Georgette’s husband called to ask how Tim was doing. A staff member said they would take the phone to Tim, but then told him there was an incident and had to get off the phone. A doctor later called and said that it was his understanding that Tim had been without oxygen or a heartbeat for 7 to 10 minutes.

Tim was taken to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs where he died on Nov. 22.

Georgette said that oxygen was not kept at Tim’s Glenwood house, despite the fact that staff knew he sometimes quit breathing from his seizures. If he had been in the infirmary under more supervision, Georgette believes Tim would still be alive.