In 2018, 15-year-old Billy Caldwell suffered a seizure and was admitted to Chelsea and Kensington Hospital in London after his medical cannabis, which he was prescribed in the US, was confiscated at Heathrow Airport.
After lobbying by his doctor and campaign group, then Home Secretary Sajid Javid released his medication and Billy became the first patient in the UK to be prescribed medical cannabis on a lifelong basis.
He and his mother, Charlotte, are now walking nearly 1,000 miles from their home in Northern Ireland to London via Liverpool, Southampton, Jersey and Guernsey to raise funds for the I Am Billy Foundation.
At the end of their journey they intend to meet and present gifts to Health Minister Matt Hancock.
During their trip to the Island they are due to visit Northern Leaf’s recently established medical-cannabis-growing facilities at Retreat Farm in St Mary.
Ms Caldwell said that she was in contact with some of the more than 500 medical-cannabis users in Jersey. She added that funds raised by the walk would be used to pay for treatment for needy patients and research into the use and effectiveness of medical cannabis to provide support and comfort for doctors.
She said: ‘The number of UK prescriptions being allocated is very few and far between. There are thousands of vulnerable, chronically ill patients who desperately need access to this medicine, and have tried all sorts of different pharmaceuticals.
‘Billy has his medical cannabis funded by the NHS, but there are thousands more Billies out there who need their medicine funded by the NHS. Billy does not want his past to be others’ futures.’
She added that her son had recently walked more than seven kilometres, a total of 11,165 steps, in one day and would not have been able to do so without his medical-cannabis treatment.
Billy, a huge Harry Potter fan, has been dressing as a wizard during the walk. He used to suffer constant seizures but has now not had one for more than a year.
Northern Leaf chief executive Campbell Dunlop said: ‘Northern Leaf are very proud to be associated with the “I am Billy Campaign”.
‘We look forward to continuing our support for the campaign as well as building awareness of the benefits of medicinal cannabis.’
Jersey legalised cannabis for medical use in 2018 and earlier this year issued licences to a number of companies to cultivate the crop in the Island.
You can sponsor Billy and Charlotte’s walk via their justgiving page here.
Billy’s itinerary in Jersey:
– Saturday 5 June: Meet at the People’s Park at 11am to walk through the centre of town
– Sunday 6 June: Meet at Winston Churchill Park car park at 11am and walk across St Brelade’s Bay
– Monday 7 June: Head to the Royal Square to meet Senator Lyndon Farnham to walk through St Helier
