Nearly two months after the first of its kind surgery in the region, a DHR Health patient has been seizure free.

Dante Enriquez, 24, underwent a groundbreaking surgery to treat his epilepsy on June 12, according to a DHR Health news release.

“How many seizures I had a day… from the beginning it was every day — sometimes every hour or every couple of minutes,” Enriquez said during a Tuesday news conference.

According to the Epilepsy Foundation, epilepsy is a brain condition that causes recurring seizures.

“I felt like a burden to my family,” Enriquez said. “They had to drive me to school and work as well. If I wanted to go to the store, they had to take me."

Enriquez said he was dependent on others to ease his mind after his episodes, and that agreeing to the brain surgery was frightening. 

“I'm not going to lie, I did go ahead and cry," Enriquez said. “Someone poking in my brain, cutting my brain, and having a scar for the rest of my life… but through prayer this was successful. I'm very happy right now."

After treating Enriquez for years, DHR Health Neurologist Dr Leonel Estofan convinced his colleague trained in epileptic surgery to come down to the Rio Grande Valley to operate on Enriquez and any other eligible patients.

Dr. Juan Torres-Reveron performed the surgery on Enriquez. He’s now looking forward to being more independent. 

There's been only one other epilepsy brain surgery at DHR Health since Enriquez’s surgery.

Watch the video above for the full story.