Thank you all for helping me to get these CF wonder drugs

Cystic fibrosis sufferer Karis Dean with her eldest daughter Miah, 12

A GRAVELY ill mother has managed to secure a life-saving cystic fibrosis wonder drug after her plea through the Daily Express was answered.

Wheelchair-bound Karis Dean, 32, has been slowly suffocating and wasting away while waiting for US firm Vertex’s new pill Trikafta.

But the mum-of-three yesterday tweeted: “Half an hour ago, I was told I’ve been accepted for it.

“Thank you, each and every one of you, who supported me. If it wasn’t for all your support, I would not have got it. This means I now have a future with my family.”

The plight of brave Karis, from Mansfield, Notts, has been backed since last month by Coronation Street’s Kym Marsh.

The actress, who portrayed Michelle Connor in the ITV soap, last night beamed: “I’m delighted for Karis.

“This drug changes people’s lives and I only hope that it becomes more widely available for sufferers of CF.”

Karis, who weighs just 4st 7lb and has only 16 per cent of her mucusclogged lungs working, was given a platform in the Express to put her case for having unlicensed Trikafta.

This is available in the UK only via Vertex’s compassionate-use scheme.

She has been taking the company’s CF drug Symkevi but this is not powerful enough to save her life.

Karis, supported by devoted partner Clegg Lockwood, pictured below, said last month: “I’m struggling not to think about dying. My kids are my motivation to fight on. They don’t deserve this pain and heartache. They need their mummy.” Last October, we helped the NHS agree an historic deal for Vertex’s CF drugs Orkambi and Symkevi. But these are suitable for just 50 per cent of sufferers and can only “stop the clock” on CF.

By November, we expect Trikafta, which can help 90 per cent of patients, will secure a European licence, making an NHS deal possible. Currently, compassionate Trikafta is the only hope for many of the most severe CF sufferers.

Since Christmas, the Express has helped very sick Nicole Adams, 28, Darren Waite, 41, and Michelle Bamber, 37, secure the drug.

Their health has been dramatically boosted, with Nicole saying: “After 12 weeks, I’m thriving. I feel like a new woman.”

Karis having treatment last month