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Aylesham villagers hold fun day to pay for cannabis treatment for severely epileptic Teagan Appleby

By: Beth Robson

Published: 16:22, 11 August 2021

Updated: 18:56, 11 August 2021

A severely epileptic girl dependant on cannabis medication can buy more treatment thanks to her fellow villagers.

Teagan Appleby, from Aylesham, suffered up to 300 seizures a day before her condition improved with medicine containing a marijuana-derived substance.

Lee Moore and Emma Appleby are desperate for any updates that make it easier for Teagan to get the treatment that makes her better

The costly treatment is deemed essential to her health by parents Emma Appleby and Lee Moore - but at around £2,000 a month they have to fundraise to buy it because it s not available on the NHS.

On Sunday friends, neighbours and villagers pulled out all the stops to help the 12-year-old from Milner Crescent.

A fun day at Ratling Social Club, raised £1,261, described as a "large chunk" towards her monthly treatment bill.

mpu1

Visitors enjoyed a barbecue arranged by Ronnie Hill and Bob Sleith, The 360 Cinema broadcast Mickey on a large screen, Artists In Motion School of Dance gave a performance and band Six Shades of Grey donated their fee to the fund.

It was organised by family friend Emma Nickle. In her thanks to them all, including the venue and Team Teagan volunteers, she said: "It goes to show how amazing our local community is."

Teagan suffers from a rare genetic condition called Idic15.

Epilepsy can come as part of this condition and Teagan has a very severe case called Lennox Gastaut Syndrom. Previously it led to up to as many as 300 seizures a day of varying severity.

She reportedly tried multiple epilepsy medications, and even had a vagus nerve stimulation device VNS fitted without success.

Since being prescribed medicinal cannabis after the law changed in 2018 her seizures reduced to around 10 on a bad day - two on a good day.

A raffle raked in the finds for the Aylesham girl

Presently she has to switch between multiple oils due to changes in her tolerance. They are Celixir, Bedrolite and BODAUS.

mpu2

It has been a long journey for the family to stabalise Teagan's condition.

KentOnline has previously reported how Mrs Appleby and Mr Moore were living in fear for Teagan's life when a doctor said he could no longer provide the prescriptions he had been given permission to prescribe by health authorities in 2019.

In May 2020 the Aylesham girl was rushed into intensive care when her mum ran out of money to pay for the controversial treatment.

Ms Emma Appleby and Lee Moore attributed the deterioration to the lower strength version of the drug used.

Teagan's condition is very serious

The desperate mum and dad even went as far as Holland to buy the drug, only for it to be confiscated by customs officials at Southend Airport because, for a time, they were committing an offence bringing it back into the UK without the right documentation.

Then in April 2020 we reported how Teagan's battle for medicinal cannabis intensified because of the coronavirus travel ban and the effect on fundraising which pays for the medicine and import costs.

Ms Appleby said today: "We are desperate for there to be some updates to tell you but we are still having to fundraise and ask people to help or donate through Teagan's crowdfunding page."

It can be accessed here.

KMTV report on Teagan's case

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