With just two drops I can go out, work and have a near normal life.
Luke O’Donnell is now looking forward to an independent future thanks to using Cannabis oil.
Luke was suffering from severe epilepsy that was ruling his day to day life. He had frequent and unpredictable seizures.
“I would be in and out of repeated convulsive seizures. Sometimes I might have a convulsive seizure that lasts for five to 10 minutes. Other times it would last until a paramedic shoved a cannula in me and injected me with Diazepam,” he says.
He became reclusive and relied on claiming from the government rather than working. Since turning to cannabis oil Luke barely has seizures and if he does they only last a couple of minutes, he is now also in full time work and looks forward to going out to see family and friends.
“Now my absences are really insignificant. I did actually have a seizure [at work] on Saturday. It was very small, two minutes, towards the end of my shift. My boss put me on some admin work and when I went home, I felt fine. Beforehand I would have felt really out of it for about a week. It really messes you up when you have a big seizure. “My life isn’t ruled by my epilepsy any more. I don’t feel like someone who has severe epilepsy any more. “
However he has not been given the oil on prescription and depends on sourcing the oil from a trust worthy source, although he is taking it with the blessing of his neurologist.Luke is baffled as to why the drug is not readily available for the UK when it has such life changing possibilities.
“Yes it can be prescribed but there’s nothing to prescribe. Ultimately I’d like for there to be some concrete guidelines about the kinds of oils that can be prescribed and where they come from,” he adds. “At the minute it’s a black market. You get a bottle with a green liquid and that could be anything.”
“Twice a day, I take a drop of this foul tasting oil and I can go to work. I can go out. I can go to Manchester to see my brother, go on a night out. I can go down to London to see my university friends. I’ve got so much more freedom. “If it stops me having seizures for long enough I will be able to drive. I should be able to go swimming without having to pre-warn the lifeguard: ‘I’ve got epilepsy, you might have to keen an eye on me.’ It’s quite embarrassing having to do that.”
Source – Serina Sandhu – inews
Image – Luke O’Donnell
