Billy Whitaker (15) is the first person to receive a pioneering treatment designed to stop his daily epileptic seizures.
Having experienced epilepsy since the age of eight, Billy underwent surgery in 2014 to remove part of his brain which was unfortunately unsuccessful.
He suffered daily seizures for seven years before undergoing this latest surgery which saw a £350,000 robot drill electrodes deep into his brain to identify and remove the tissue which was triggering Billy’s seizures.
(Pic and feature pic via The Mirror)
It is known as ‘Robotic Stereotactic EEG’ and the surgery took five hours to complete.
According to YoungEpilepsy.org.uk, Billy was the first to undergo this treatment at Bristol hospital and it was made possible thanks to local fundraising.
Billy suffered daily seizures for the seven years prior to surgery and has now been seizure-free for the past two weeks and consultants are confident that he is now cured.
Consultant neurosurgeon Michael Carter said;
“(Billy) has been incredibly well since and hasn’t had any seizures. We’re hoping that he’s going to be seizure-free for the future. This event represents a revolutionary transition into the 21st century for epilepsy surgery and absolutely cements our credentials as a premier paediatric epilepsy surgery facility not only for this city, but comparable with anything worldwide”
We hope this is the beginning of progressive effective treatment for all other epilepsy sufferers.
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