Harriet is living proof wonder drug works
A POORLY sevenyear-old who helped to ensure that a cystic fibrosis wonder drug was made available on the NHS is taking it – and has seen her health soar.
Harriet Corr featured on the front page of the Daily Express three times in 2019, asking for lifesaving therapy for her and the 10,600 people living with CF.
The following June, after more than 200 Express articles, NHS England agreed deals for the medicine Kaftrio for adults, followed by the rest of the UK and for over-12s.
While she waited for it to be approved for younger ones too, Harriet’s health nose-dived – sending her lung function plummeting to just 67 per cent.
She needed so many intravenous antibiotics, doctors put a port into a chest vein so they could pump drugs into her body more quickly.
Since starting
Kaftrio in February, Harriet has been transformed into a picture of happiness, has put on weight and stopped coughing
– while her lung function hit 115 per cent efficiency.
Her teacher mum Emma, 41, wept at home in Hebburn, Tyne and Wear, as she described how her girl blossomed.
She said: “The first clinic after starting Kaftrio, we could not believe it when they told us how well she was. It was really emotional.We had never walked out of a CF clinic with such joy in our hearts.
“At the previous clinic we felt a shadow looming as they gave her special high-calorie drinks to try to help her gain weight. Now her appetite is through the roof and she’s happy... smiling and giggling all the time and enjoying life like any other child should be. For years we have campaigned with the Daily
Express for Kaftrio, calling it a ‘wonder drug’.
“Now we have experienced it ourselves we know that’s exactly what it does – performs wonders.”
Harriet deeply affected thenHealth Secretary Matt Hancock and helped us secure the drug Orkambi for NHS patients in 2019. She had it first in powdered form the following January, and found it helped fight her frequent lung infections. But a year later, she had to switch to taking its tablet form and her health declined.
Emma said: “She was ill, coughing and lost weight. By August 2021 her lung function was down to 67 per cent. She had two bronchoscopies, where cameras are inserted into the lung airways. Every hospital appointment left us coming away with a feeling of dread. Doctors could not find the root cause.”
Harriet’s family were cautious when she began Kaftrio but hours after taking her first pill she said: “Mum, my lungs feel different.”
She started coughing up cupfuls of mucus that had blocked her lungs and within weeks all physical symptoms of CF had gone.