06-05-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Trial epilepsy drug reduces seizures, gives children and their families normal lives
The mother of a seven-year-old boy said 'I feel like a millionaire, like I've won the lottery', after a pioneering clinical trial transformed the life of her son, who has a severe form of epilepsy.
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Albie Kelly and Freddie Truelove, both seven, are two of the children who have been given a new lease on life following the research trial at Sheffield Children's Hospital in the UK.
Both boys have Dravet syndrome, a form of
epilepsy which often begins before the age of one, and affects about one in every 15,000 babies born.
Youngsters taking part in the trial have seen dramatic changes – moving from experiencing debilitating seizures to learning to speak, read, write independently, make new friends and take part in sport, the hospital said.
A drug trial has transformed young Albie Kelly's life, his mother Lauren Kelly says. Photo:
Albie's mother, Lauren Kelly, said: 'We rarely left the house out of fear that Albie might have a seizure in a place not easily accessible for an ambulance. I wouldn't travel out of the area to stay near Sheffield Children's. Since the research trial it's like I have a new child.'
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Albie, who lives with his mother, father and sister in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, received the first dose of the trial drug zorevunersen, previously known as STK-001, in June 2022.
