‘I’ll break law to save my girl’

At the end of last year, the youngster was given cannabis-based medication Epidiolex at the Evelina Children’s Hospital which initially worked, stopping all her seizures while she was awake, although not while she slept.

But Miss Appleby says the effect has plateaued and since February she has been suffering aggressive fits, which cause her to stop breathingand rely on rescue medicine to save her life.

The 35-year-old now wants wheelchair-bound Teagan to be treated with THC - tetrahydrocannabinol - the strongest form of cannabis treatment, believing it will prevent all her seizures.

But this is not readily prescribed by doctors, despite a change in law on November 1, 2018, making it legal for neurologists and other specialists to prescribe medical products derived from cannabis.

Miss Appleby said: “Previously Teagan could seizure up to 300 times a day but from December, after having cannabidiol (CBD) Epidiolex, this stopped. But the effect is no longer working - the seizures are less frequent but more aggressive - and we are desperate to access full extract cannabis oil on the NHS. Currently we are being told that our doctor is not allowed to prescribe it.”

Campaigners argue that despite the law change, strict policy and guidelines means patients are still denied access to products, including THC.

But Miss Appleby, from Milner Crescent, says Alfie Dingley, a young epileptic boy from Warwickshire, is on a mixture of CBD and THC and has been seizure-free for just under a year.

“Every night I lay in bed wondering if my little girl will make it through the night. No parent should be put in that situation. If Teagan doesn’t get this whole plant medical cannabis, we fear she will end up back in intensive Thursday, March 21, 2019 Kentish Gazette (KG)

Thursday, March 21, 2019 Kentish Gazette (KG) www.kentonline.co.uk