‘Billy’s thriving’: family’s joy as boy who helped legalise cannabis medicine in UK turns 21

Mother of Billy Caldwell, who has severe epilepsy, celebrates son’s story while pushing for better access to prescription cannabis for families who need it When Billy Caldwell was a baby he was not expected to survive infancy. A severe form of epilepsy condemned his tiny body to daily seizures – brutal, draining and each one potentially fatal. “They couldn’t get the seizures under control,” his mother, Charlotte, recalled. “Billy was sent home to die – we were told he wouldn’t see past his fi...

By Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent