MANSFIELD, Pa.(WENY)-- Zach McCloskey is back at Mansfield University this semester after leaving school in January to undergo an intensive brain surgery. Zach was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2008 and put on medication for treatment. Zach told WENY News that the medicine would work for awhile, but then the episodes would just get worse. 

"When they went in, they said they had to take out take out a fist sized of my brain," says Zach McCloskey, Sophomore at Mansfield University."There was a couple of times where like, you'd get put on new medicine and it'd start to work and I wouldn't have any for about a month or so but occasionally one would break through then it would just lead into another one and another one and another one and eventually the drug would just like kind of not be doing it's job, so that was a little frustrating just to keep on going through that cycle," McCloskey tells WENY News. 

Once Zach turned 18, his parents gave him the go ahead to make a life-changing decision and get a surgery which only had a 50/50 chance of working.  

"My dad said well you're 18 now, this is your decision so whatever you want to do I support, and that was the day when I decided okay I am going to go through with the probes and hopefully after that we can do the surgery," say McCloskey. 

With that option front of him, Zach was ready to take the leap of faith. 

"I was just really set to go. My mom and dad were like, the most nervous out of everybody because you know I'm their kid and just you don't really want to take a chance but." 

Zach had the probes put in first and once the doctors detected the region of his brain most likely causing the seizures, they were able to go in and take out a portion of his frontal lobe. Since the surgery, Zach is now back in school at Mansfield and has been seizure-free so far.

"It was a good feeling because you know, I was saying in the morning I was feeling uneasy because I was feeling like I was going to have one, but these times in the morning I  feel kind of confident, alright you can do this, those times are over. Just get up and go to school and not have to worry about anything so that was the biggest thing."

Zach told WENY News that he is grateful he had to opportunity to get this surgery and get his life back on track. 

"I took a chance and so far it's worked out for me." 

Zach's procedure was done at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and since he started classes, he has been over 100 days without any seizures.