Billy Caldwell: How the boy who changed cannabis laws is thriving

Turning 21 is a milestone for most.

For Charlotte Caldwell, celebrating her son Billy’s 21st birthday was something she feared would never happen.

Billy Caldwell from Castlederg in County Tyrone has a severe form of epilepsy, which at one point had him suffering hundreds of “life-threatening” seizures a day.

After a legal battle, Billy was prescribed a cannabis-based medicine which stopped his seizures.

Billy is now three years seizure-free and “not just surviving, but thriving”, his mother said.

Behind the birthday celebrations is a story that helped change UK law.

Billy was born with severe life-threatening form of epilepsy that proved extremely difficult to control. At the height of his illness he was having between 300 and 800 seizures a day.

“He had been tried on cocktails of anti-epileptic pharmaceuticals and they just weren’t working” Charlotte said.

For his family, the seizures brought constant fear.

“Epilepsy has to be one of the most brutal conditions that any child can have.

“You have no control over them and you have to just stand there and watch your child seize.”