Mother Says She Was Made To Feel Like A Criminal For Treating Her Sick Daughter

A mother in Birmingham said she was made to feel like a criminal by police and local council and was threatened with having both her children taken away from her because she gave her brain damaged daughter cannabis oil to help cure her seizures.

The Birmingham Mail reports:

Louise Bostock, aged 30, from Erdington, started using the oil to try and reduce the number of seizures three-year-old Jayla has.

Jayla was diagnosed with a degenerative brain syndrome when she was just a year old.

She cannot walk or talk and is fed through a tube. She also has violent seizures every three or four weeks, which usually last between five and ten days.

The seizures are so extreme that they lead to bleeding in her stomach. During the episodes, she also needs oxygen and suctioning to stop her choking and to be propped up in her bed at all times.

Although her condition remains a mystery to medics, they have predicted that she is unlikely to live beyond her childhood years.

Although legal and available online or in shops, it is currently is only available on prescription to adults with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Louise said since giving her daughter the oil, she had improved dramatically.

But staff at Birmingham Children’s Hospital kept Jayla there for five days when Louise mentioned the oil to them.

Medics then informed police and the council and a safeguarding meeting was held, during which Louise was told her son, Junior, would have to stay with relatives while inquiries were made about the oil.

She said: ‘It’s been an absolute nightmare. Completely heartbreaking in every way. I was made to feel like a criminal just for trying to do the best by my daughter,” she said.

But now the nightmare is over as Louise has been told she faces no further action and can carry on giving Jayla the cannabis oil and is even hoping to get it prescribed by her daughter’s neurologist.

A spokesman for Birmingham City Council said: ‘“When concerns are raised by health professionals, Birmingham Children’s Services has a responsibility to investigate.”