Today, Vera Twomey started a long walk from Cork to Dublin today in order to protest the Dáil, after petitioning the Government for months to grant her permission to give her daughter medical marijuana.
Her daughter, Ava, was diagnosed with Dravet syndrome which causes her to experiences hundreds of seizures a day, and Vera believes that cannabidiol (cannabis oil) will have a major impact on Ava's life.
In the US, cannabis oil has been proven to reduce the amount of seizures in patients of Dravet syndrome, going from multiple seizures a day to only one or two in a couple of months.
When writing to the Minister of Health, Simon Harris, Vera said: "We beg the government to see that a small child like Ava has battled every day with seizures lasting from two minutes to two hours.
"She has astonished doctors with her progress and we are proud of her but imagine what she could achieve if we accessed medication that is proved to work."
Since little reaction was gained from her petition, Vera chose to walk to the Dáil today, after Ava suffered severely during the night.
"Ava's down with an ear infection, spiking temperature and had a massive seizure last night. I can wait no longer. As a protest I am leaving the house this morning to walk to Dublin," the mum said on her Facebook page.
"If anyone from Aghabullogue or from anywhere in the country who supports Ava's situation wants to walk a mile of the road with me it starts this morning.
"We can wait no longer. Charlotte's Webb (hemp extract oil) maybe saved her life last night. Without it Ava's seizures may not have stopped at all but we need more and if I don't do something maybe we will lose Ava. We just can't lose Ava," she added.
