I FEARED MY LIFE WAS OVER... NOW I HAVE A NEW ONE
CF sufferer Nicole saved by wonder drug after Daily Express crusade
THESE pictures capture the jubilation of cystic fibrosis sufferer Nicole Adams, whose life has been transformed in just two weeks thanks to a Daily Express crusade to win her a wonder pill.
Just a fortnight ago, 28-year-old Nicole was fighting for her life in a hospital’s intensive care unit.
Her lungs were struggling so badly she could hardly breathe, despite being given the highest oxygen levels possible.
Now look at her – after our crusade launched in September to win her US drug giant Vertex’s life-saving medication Trikafta, which is not yet licensed in Britain, so is only available “compassionately” to the very sick.
A grateful Nicole said: “I thought my life was ending – but now I have a new life.”
She called for the drug to be made available to all sufferers who need it as soon as possible.
Nicole was in Belfast City Hospital for six weeks, hovering on the brink of death.
But after 500 angry emails from our readers and her loved ones, Vertex caved in and started her on Trikafta.
Her lung infection “marker score” has now plunged from a high of 300 to less than 10. And just a fortnight after being near death she is so healthy Nicole has been discharged and is recovering at home in Newtownabbey as our picture, right inset, shows.
Our main picture shows her celebrating in hospital prior to discharge.
Surrounded at home by her mother Jan, 62, brother Lee, 30, and her boyfriend Ciaran McVarnock, 27, she said: “Why should sufferers like myself and the hundreds seriously ill like me out there have to beg to simply live? It’s a disgrace.
“My initial application for Trikafta was refused until I was rushed into intensive care and Vertex were told it was the only thing left to save me.
“Why could I not have had it earlier? Why are others seriously ill not getting compassionate-use Trikafta?
“I have never been so scared in all my life as I was when I was moved into intensive care. I thought my life was over. Being at home is such a boost.”
She added: “I can’t believe I’m back home – it’s like a dream.
“I’m now determined to fight, just like the Daily Express, for all CF sufferers to get Trikafta as soon as it is approved in the UK.”
In October a determined crusade by the Daily Express finally saw historic NHS drug deals for two other Vertex CF wonder pills Orkambi and Symkevi struck across the UK.
We have since launched a new campaign to see the newer, upcoming Trikafta pill made widely available on the NHS after it is licensed in June.