Hunter Tylo on son: "You're not going to forget"

When The Bold and the Beautiful actress Hunter Tylo lost her son Michael Edward Tylo II last October, she felt she’d never recover from the nightmare. "I can’t even tell you the feeling," Hunter recently told PEOPLE Magazine of her 19-year-old’s epileptic seizure, which led to his accidental drowning. "In your deepest gut you want to believe this is a dream."

Now, however, the devoted mother is turning her loss into a source of inspiration. A spokeswoman for the American Epilepsy Outreach Foundation, Hunter was on hand to present the "Mickey Tylo Butterfly Award" at the group’s first annual Wings of Hope Benefit on June 13 in Chicago. Celebrating those who are making great strides toward epilepsy awareness, the organization honored Illinois resident Dr. Roy Sucholeiki, neurology specialist and medical director ofCentral DuPage Hospital’s Comprehensive Seizure and Epilepsy Program.

In her new role with the group, Hunter hopes to raise awareness about epilepsy, which affects more than 3 million Americans.

"As all of the loss pain dissipates, you start to see, like Ihave, the purpose of that person’s life," she says. "That’s the feelingyou have to cling on to."

Source: PEOPLE Magazine; Photo by Jordan Strauss/WireImage.com.