"Happy and healthy as we can be."
Irish mother and cannabis oil campaigner Vera Twomey has confirmed the news that her daughter Ava is now "pharma free", and thriving from the use of just cannabis oil.
Ava suffers from a severe form of epilepsy called Dravet's Syndrome, a debilitating condition which causes seizures and the only thing that helps her is medicinal cannabis.
Her mother Vera first made headlines at the beginning of 2017 when she walked from her home in Cork to Dublin, on two separate occasions, in a bid to get Health Minister Simon Harris to allow her daughter access medicinal cannabis.
Her tireless efforts did not go unnoticed as in December 2017 – following a brief stint in the Netherlands to receive "life-saving" treatment – Twomey announced that Ava was granted a special licence which allows her to receive cannabis treatments at home in Cork.
Taking to Facebook, Vera said they are "scared and excited" about Ava's future without the aid of pharmaceuticals.
"In the last number of weeks, Ava has become officially pharma free. We were scared and excited at the same time to know what it would bring," she said.
"The last couple of photos of Ava I think speak for themselves and as it happens so does Ava as she is singing the beginning of nursery rhymes now more and more."
Vera continued that her daughter, who uses both cannabidiol (CBD) oil and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) oil, is anticipating the return to school this September.
CBD is a chemical constituent of the cannabis plant and products based on it can be legally sold in Ireland. It does not produce the same psychoactive effects that THC produces and therefore is not associated with the effect expected with the recreational use of cannabis.
CBD-based products have been used by patients suffering from a range of conditions including epilepsy, chronic pain, spasticity, insomnia and anxiety.
Vera was permitted to use the treatment during the winter of 2017 – however, due to the presence of THC in the medicine Ava needs – she and her daughter have to travel to the Netherlands to retrieve it, paying medical bills of approximately €5,000 every three months.
Back in April, Vera received news that her daughter's cannabis treatments
would be reimbursed by the state.
