Doctors use medicinal cannabis oil to treat schoolboy with ‘uncontrollable’ epileptic fits… with staggering results
Billy's family are campaigning for the drug to be legalised for medicinal use in Northern Ireland before they return from LA
DOCTORS are successfully using cannabis to treat a schoolboy with an “uncontrollable” form of epilepsy.
Billy Caldwell, 11, has been suffering life-threatening and frequent seizures for almost all his life.
But he’s gone 15 days without a fit after doctors in Los Angeles, USA, started giving him daily doses of cannabis oil to swallow.
His mum Charlotte, who flew to America with him from Castlederg, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, now hopes politicians back home will legalise the drug for medicinal use.
“Billy isn’t sitting smoking joints obviously – he gets daily syringes of the oil into his mouth – and the results speak for themselves,” said Charlotte.
“Billy has been taking the cannabis oil for a few weeks now. He hasn’t had a seizure for 16 days when before he was having around seven every week.
“Not only has the cannabis oil significantly reduced his seizures, his wee personality is starting to come out."
“I have being living with Billy for the last 11 years, I can honestly say I don’t think it was the real Billy!
There is a wee twinkle in his eye, he is becoming more aware of his surroundings and less imbalanced, eating more and becoming more mischievous!
“As every day passes on CBD he is changing for the better.”
Billy suffers from intractable and status epilepsy, a form of the diseases which can't be controlled by lifestyle or medication.
Charlotte says the revolutionary use of medicinal cannabis oil, (known as cannabidiol hemp oil CBD oil), has left young Billy without a seizure for 15 days.
Billy is receiving the controversial treatment in Los Angeles while specialist epilepsy doctors figure out what kind of brain operation they think will work best to rid the schoolboy of his lethal fits.
Now Charlotte is calling on local politicians – and in particular Health Minister Michelle O’Neill – to follow the example of the Dublin government which last week legalised its use for medicinal purposes.
Billy’s brother Kyle will be delivering a letter to the Health Minister this week urging her to legalise medicinal cannabis so his brother can return home from LA safely in the New Year.
“It’s remarkable medication and I think it is time our Health Service made it available to the people who will medically benefit from it,” said Charlotte.
“Billy’s condition is a brutal diagnosis for any wee child to deal with, but with the help of CBD and brain surgery in the coming weeks, I’m feeling hopeful he will overcome it and return home safely in the New Year.”
Fundraisers from all over Northern Ireland have been raising cash for Billy in dozens of different ways and to date over £93,000 has been raised.
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Ten years ago doctors at the RVH sent a six-month old Billy home from hospital and told his mum there was little chance he would see his first birthday.
Last month after extensive tests positive news emerged that Billy could be cured of his seizures with a brain operation, though it could cost over £300,000.
Tests carried out by senior doctors at the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital discovered that Billy is a ‘high risk’ candidate for a condition known as SUDEP – sudden unexpected death in epilepsy patients – because many of his seizures happen in his sleep.
But doctors think they can rid him of his seizures with a delicate and complicated brain operation.
Charlotte describes the changes in Billy over the last few weeks as “incredible” but says the thought that she would be committing a crime by treating her son with CBD oil in Northern Ireland is mad.
“I have seen how this stuff works and can change lives right before my eyes so why would we not want to make this kind of treatment available to others in Northern Ireland?
“I know we can do this and not only for Billy, but so many of our loved ones can benefit from medicinal cannabis.”
On Friday Billy’s brother Kyle started a 300-mile walk to raise funds and awareness of his condition.
He will be carrying his brother, or at least the equivalent of his weight, on his back during the marathon fundraiser which he’s calling “Billy’s Cannabus Run”.
During the run he will be dropping in at Stormont to hand over a letter to the Health Minister, urging her to reconsider legalising medicinal cannabis.