A STRESSED mum has spoken of her fear that her "son could go into a coma or have a fit and die" if she doesn't continue raising enough money to pay for his cannabis medicine. 

Lisa Quarrell can see “no light at the end of the tunnel” despite recently securing £10,000 for little Cole Thomson’s Bedrolite medication which covers him for one year.

The 10-year-old boy suffers from a rare form of drug-resistant epilepsy which left him unable to walk or speak. He also suffered daily seizures.

Glasgow Times: Cole relies on the cannabis oilCole relies on the cannabis oil

The 41-year-old East Kilbride mum was, however, left stunned after his sudden miraculous recovery when he tried cannabis oil three years ago. But now she must scramble to pay £1200 every month to pay for it.

Currently the medicine is not available on the NHS due to “lack of evidence” of its results despite Cole being seizure and wheelchair-free since he started using it.

Now his family are trying to celebrate raising enough to cover Cole’s medical bills for the next 12 months but are emotionally and physically exhausted constantly trying to keep afloat.

Glasgow Times: The medicine isn't available on the NHSThe medicine isn't available on the NHS

Lisa told the Glasgow Times: “I feel like I have this noose around my neck, my son could go into a coma or have a fit and die if I don’t pay for this medicine.

“All my savings are now gone, I just fundraise all the time but I am constantly worried about how I can keep finding the money every month.

“He went from being unresponsive in a wheelchair to running about and back at school by using this medication, I can’t and won’t take it away from him now.

“We managed to come up with £10,000 recently through fundraising which has been incredible because we nearly ran out of money.

“There is just no light at the end of the tunnel for us though because we can’t get it on the NHS, it is having a really negative impact on my own health as well.

“I just need some help for my son and have been asking for years now, but I am so grateful to everyone who does support us and donates.”

Cole was first diagnosed with drug-resistant epilepsy at just three-months-old and has battled the condition ever since.

Glasgow Times: Lisa is hoping for helpLisa is hoping for help

The illness that affects the brain and causes frequent seizures which are bursts of electrical activity in the brain that temporarily affect how it works.

The schoolboy underwent invasive brain surgery to help tackle it and has also tried more than 20 different medications but nothing has been as effective as the cannabis oil, according to Lisa.

It comes after he was rushed to hospital and almost died in March 2019 but was wheelchair-free.

She relies on the support of her friends, family, and generous donors who help her fundraise all year round to stop Cole going without his vital medicine.

In April friends climbed Ben Nevis to raise money and contacted pals in an Addias memorabilia group who then carried out an online auction and raffle which raised £10,000 in just three days for Cole.

It will take the pressure off Lisa for now, but she is calling on the Scottish Government to help her pay for the treatment long term or push it be prescribed on the NHS.

She said: “I believe the Scottish Government should help me and fix this mess for Cole.

“Health is a devolved matter and I have no help or support, they won’t offer Cole the Bedrolite he needs.

“They would suggest he came off and cut into his head for more operations which could be dangerous, instead of using this medicine that has been working so well for three years.

“It would be risking him falling into a coma or suffering a seizure again which could kill him so I don’t want to do that.

“That is why I started the Coles Campaign to raise awareness and get the Scottish Government to take action and look at him on an individual basis.

“This is my child’s life we are talking about.”

The Scottish Government expressed “enormous sympathy” for the schoolboy but said the power ultimately “rests with Westminster”.

This is because regulation, licensing and supply of medicines remain reserved to the UK Government which includes the scheduling of Cannabis Based Products for Medicinal Use.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We have enormous sympathy for Cole Thomson and his family.

“We deeply appreciate the very difficult situation any family will face in these circumstances.

"The regulation, licensing and supply of medicines remain reserved to the UK Government – this includes the scheduling of Cannabis Based Products for Medicinal Use (CBPMs) – and the Scottish Government has no power to alter this while responsibility rests with Westminster.

“Although specialist doctors have been allowed to prescribe CBPMs on the NHS since 2018, most have concerns around their safety and efficacy and the lack of robust evidence on their use, particularly the long-term side effects.

“It is only by building this evidence base that specialist doctors will gain the confidence to support the prescribing of unlicensed CBPMs.

“We continue to support the development of UK based clinical trials which will help to build the evidence base for CBPMs.

“The health and social care secretary recently met the UK Government’s minister for patient safety and primary care to discuss the trials.”