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Coronavirus Kent: How Covid-19 is stopping Teagan Appleby from Aylesham getting medical cannabis which reduces epileptic seizures

The family of a severely epileptic girl who uses medicinal cannabis to reduce her daily seizures from 300 to 10, worry the coronavirus crisis will abruptly stop their ability to source the remedy.

Ten year-old Teagan Appleby from Aylesham near Dover and Canterbury ran out of Celixir just over a week ago but thankfully a new shipment arrived that same day that will last her another two weeks.

But now her mum Emma worries they won't be so lucky next time.

Mrs Appleby told Kentonline that "things have been difficult" since Covid-19.

She added: "We almost ran out as getting an import of Teagan's medication was becoming impossible.

"Luckily the day we ran out we had a call to say the medication had the arrived at the airport so we collected on that day.

"Now we are worried about the next batch arriving in time."

Teagan Appleby enjoying the sunshine
Teagan Appleby enjoying the sunshine

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 two years ago 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.

Until this year, where the family did not have the money for an import licence, Mr and Mrs Appleby had to travel to Holland to collect Teagan's medication, a preparation called Bedrolite, at a cost of £2,500 per month.

Lee Moore and Emma Appleby and daughter and Teagan of Aylesham when they were campaigning for legal access to cannabis medication
Lee Moore and Emma Appleby and daughter and Teagan of Aylesham when they were campaigning for legal access to cannabis medication

Until their last trip on December 27, they were committing an offence bringing it back into the UK without the right documentation.

They were stopped on numerous occasions and had the medication confiscated, only for it to be returned a few days later.

They were never charged for the offence.

After building up a tolerance, Teagan switched to a stronger form of medicinal cannabis called Celixir which is cheaper and is imported legally from Israel.

But despite the reduced cost of the medicine, with import fees it still totals a back-breaking £1,500 a time.

Fundraising for Teagan Appleby has dried up because of the economical effects of coronavirus
Fundraising for Teagan Appleby has dried up because of the economical effects of coronavirus

Now where Covid-19 has put an immense strain on the economy and charities across the country, donations to Teagan have dried up.

Mrs Appleby said: "It's impossible to raise money in this pandemic so its putting even more pressure on us which is really hard.

"We haven't got the ability to hold any events - obviously, due to coronavirus we're not allowed to leave the house - so fundraisisng has pretty much come to a halt at the moment.

"People, understandably, haven't got enough money to be helping.

"I don't like asking for help any time, never mind when we're going through a global pandemic.

Teagan with her parents Emma and Lee at a fun day to raise money for her medication
Teagan with her parents Emma and Lee at a fun day to raise money for her medication

"This is quite a big worry that if we can't fundraise we can't afford the medication."

"We had a big event before this kicked off. We had some money come in from that but when that runs out we won't be able to buy her prescription."

You can help Teagan by donating to her crowdfunding page. To do so, click here.

Find out more about her plight by searching Help For Teagan on Facebook.

For the latest coronavirus news and advice, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Kent

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