4 days ago
Scots boy who suffers ten seizures a day due to drug-resistant epilepsy set to start high school
Cole Thomson takes lifesaving cannabis oil to combat crippling seizures, which costs £2500 per month for a private prescription.
Brave East Kilbride boy Cole Thomson will mark a major milestone in his life this week– starting high school.
He lives with a severe form of drug-resistant epilepsy and needs cannabis oil to keep his crippling seizures at bay. Cole, 13, relies on the medical cannabis to stay alive and a private prescription costs £2500 per month.
His mum Lisa Quarrell has campaigned tirelessly to fundraise the huge amount.
She said: 'Starting high school on Thursday, I can't believe it. He's buzzing, really excited.'
Cole, who is starting Duncanrig Secondary in East Kilbride, was suffering up to 10 spasms and seizures a day at one point.
And on the huge fundraising effort, Lisa added: 'All I know is that I don't want Cole to go back into his wheelchair and I want him to have the best chance at high school as he can."
Cole underwent brain surgery at three but suffered cortical dysplasia – a brain defect that sadly means the youngster will have to battle seizures for the rest of his life. But he will start an exciting new chapter in his life on Thursday when he walks through the gates of Duncanrig for the first time.
His mum Lisa Quarrell said: 'He spent a lot of time going up and down to Duncanrig just making sure he was comfortable and it was the right fit. He really likes it, he'll be doing part of his classes in the base and part in the mainstream.'
Cole previously attended Canberra Primary, and Lisa said that it was 'a great school'.
She said: 'He had to repeat P1 so he's starting high school a year later. I had to fight to get him in Duncanrig, originally he was given a place in Sanderson High. As much as Cole has got a disability, he's very social and likes to get out and play, does his taekwondo, he does his boxing.
'I had said that I wanted him to go to Duncanrig base because I felt that was a better fit and at Duncanrig there is also the option of him going into the mainstream and it being split, so he has a taste of both, depending on how he copes.
'Definitely when I went up to see it and I sat down with the head teacher, they were absolutely brilliant, they took me through all the different options and showed me round the school, and the school's fantastic.
'They've just recently built an outdoor classroom, and they've got their own wee playground and there's loads of stuff for the kids. It's definitely a better fit for Cole.'
Mum-of-two Lisa has been campaigning tirelessly for six years to have her youngest son's lifesaving medical cannabis prescribed on the NHS, raising more than £100,000 to fund the drug.
Cole's Campaign was set up to help fund the East Kilbride boy's medicine which has transformed the youngster's life since taking the drug six years ago. Since taking a daily dose of the cannabis oil Bedrolite he became seizure-free and went from being confined to a wheelchair with limited speech to excelling in taekwondo.
Lisa said: 'Unfortunately he's not been great over the summer with his seizures, they've been quite bad.'
There were some issues with the supply of the cannabis oil and Lisa said: 'He was going without it for a few days, and that happened three or four times, and that's really dangerous. So his private consultant had said we'll put him on a like for like oil, see how he copes.
'Kids like Cole, especially drug-resistant epilepsy, you can't be without your medicine. It's really important that they get the same brand, the same amount and it's constant, they never go without it, because it can be deadly.
'We tried the like for like oil from March, it's significantly cheaper, So instead of £2500 every 28 days for Bedrolite it's £820 every 28 days but it's not working as well and over the last couple of months we've noticed an increase in seizures.'
Lisa said: 'The Scottish Government have said they are looking into alternatives and to see what they can do. I've worked closely with the health minister and he seems really good, Neil Gray.
'He's been very like, 'I'm not gong to make you false promises, I'm going to see what I can do, see what we can deliver and then we'll come back to you'.
'They've been in recess, they come back September I think and we'll pick it up from there.'
The Scottish Government continually say that while they have 'enormous sympathy' for Cole Thomson and his family, the regulation, licensing and supply of Cannabis Based Products for Medicinal Use (CBPMs) remain reserved to the UK Government and it has 'no power' to alter this.
Lisa added: 'The cost of living crisis just now has just made it really really difficult, we've never struggled the way we've struggled this past year and a half financially.
'We've kind of tapped into everything that we possibly can and the well is dry as they say and I'm kind of out of ideas apart from starting again.
'All I know is that I don't want Cole to go back into his wheelchair and I want him to have the best chance at high school as he can and I know that the only way to do that is get him back on his Bedrolite and keep him on his Bedrolite. So I've got a duty as his mum to find the money and find a way.'
If you can help, contact Lisa on lisaquarrell26@ or 07825 252523, or on Facebook.
