Our Olivia is hit by 300 seizures in one day
Mum says rare condition has robbed girl of her childhood
THE mother of an eight-year-old girl who suffers hundreds of seizures a day says she has been “robbed of her childhood”.
Olivia McCafferty, from Glasgow, has Doose syndrome, a severe form of childhood epilepsy.
On her worst days, the schoolgirl can suffer up to 300 seizures a day which can cause loss of consciousness, serious falls and have left her black and blue.
Over the last six years, Olivia’s condition has become so bad she has lost the ability to walk and is now wheelchair-bound.
Her mum Julie Cabrey, 45, says medication can leave the youngster feeling “like a zombie”.
She said: “Her seizures have gone haywire in the last 18 months.
“Last year, we counted her 300th seizure one day. Now we’ve just stopped counting.
“I have to sit down every day and watch my daughter constantly have different types of seizures. It’s been horrific.
“She can’t go out to play with her friends, she needs me there at all times.
“She’s on a strict keto diet so she can’t have McDonald’s or sweets. She can’t even go to her friend’s birthday parties.”
Olivia was just 15 months old when she was first hospitalised with convulsions.
She wasn’t diagnosed with Doose syndrome until several months later.
In 2021, the youngster underwent brain surgery to try to alleviate the seizures but the procedure was
She can’t play with friends. She needs me there JULIE CABREY ON DAUGHTER’S CONDITION
unsuccessful. She now has to permanently wear a safety helmet and has a camera installed in her bedroom to monitor her falls.
Julie, a support learning worker for Glasgow City Council, said she has turned to funding medicinal cannabis oil treatment for her daughter.
Olivia is receiving the treatment at the Sapphire Medical Clinic in Stirling – Scotland’s first approved medicinal cannabis clinic – but the family face mounting costs of up to £1200 a month to increase her dose.
Julie said: “We’ve been introducing cannabis oil since January. We’ve seen Olivia have good days on it. I’m hopeful we can increase her dose but it’s double the price. We can’t afford it. We just need any release from this so she can be a normal child.”