NO!! Charlotte Figi, Colorado Girl Who Inspired CBD Movement To Control Seizures, dies from COVID-19

[hlthe2b]

This is wrenching!

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/04/08/charlotte-figi-cannabis-oil-seizures-passes-away-coronavirus/

DENVER (CBS4) — Charlotte Figi, a Colorado girl who was among the first children to be treated with cannabidiol (CBD) to control seizures, has died from complications related to COVID-19, according to the Colorado Sun. She was 13 years old.

Charlotte’s story changed the way people viewed the use of CBD and she appeared in a 2013 documentary by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta. “Charlotte’s story directly impacted thousands of families across the globe and has changed the face of cannabis in many ways,” The Realm of Caring Foundation, an organization co-founded by her mother, Paige Figi, stated. “Your work is done Charlotte, the world is changed, and you can now rest knowing that you leave the world a better place.”

Charlotte was born with a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome. With 300 seizures a week, she couldn’t walk, talk or eat, and no medications worked. Her family had almost lost hope. “I was wishing for no more suffering because we had nothing else to try,” Paige Figi told CBS4. Then her family learned about the type of marijuana that’s low in THC but high in CBD. Paige began giving Charlotte cannabis oil potent with CBD and her seizures nearly stopped.

The strain of cannabis was renamed “Charlotte’s Web” — and when word spread about how successful it was, desperate families flocked to Colorado. The Charlotte’s Web Medical Hemp Act of 2014 was named after Charlotte.

Last week, Charlotte was hospitalized, for the first time in years, Paige said. She was discharged two days later. Then, on Tuesday night, family members posted that she had passed.
“Charlotte is no longer suffering. She is seizure-free forever. Thank you so much for all of your love,” a family member wrote on Facebook.

If public health officials verify her death was related to the coronavirus, that would make Charlotte the youngest victim of the pandemic in Colorado so far.

[greenjar_01]

1. This one just got to me

A horror.

[Lucinda]

27. Yep!

[pandr32]

2. She had already gone through so much before Covid-19

Poor dear girl.

[dewsgirl]

3. Heartbreaking.💔😭😭😭

[IcyPeas]

4. I remember watching this

and was amazed at how it CBD worked for her. amazed.

this is just too sad. didn't the family even move so they could obtain it legally?

too sad. not fair.

RIP Charlotte

[stopwastingmymoney]

5. That is so awful

I have a tin of ointment right here that says Charlotte’s Web on top

RIP poor child, you gave the world an important gift

[missingthebigdog]

6. This is what is keeping me up at night.

I have a daughter who is severely autistic and has a seizure disorder. She is on several meds to control the seizures, but when she does have them, they are usually very severe. We have spent too many nights in the ICU over the years.

She receives Medicaid, so we can only get meds when she is nearly out, one month at a time. The cost to buy an emergency supply out of pocket is horrendous. I am terrified that the pharmacy won’t have her meds. I am terrified that we will have a hospitalization while all of this is going on. The last place anyone needs to be right now is in a hospital.

People like Charlotte, and like my daughter, don’t survive things like Covid-19. They are the collateral damage when we allow people to choose whether or not to believe in science. They are the victims of the acceptance of “alternative facts.”

[hlthe2b]

7. You and your daughter are in my thoughts...

I truly wish you the best.

[missingthebigdog]

23. Thank you.

If anything good comes out of this, it will be the way it demonstrates how many really good people there are in the world.

[sakabatou]

9. I'm kind of the same.

I'm on medication for seizures and the big ones come only twice a year.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

12. Eloquently expressed.

”People like Charlotte, and like my daughter, don’t survive things like Covid-19. They are the collateral damage when we allow people to choose whether or not to believe in science. They are the victims of the acceptance of “alternative facts.” “

😓

[hlthe2b]

14. +1

[WinstonSmith4740]

15. Have you tried CBD oil?

One of my SPED students was also susceptible to seizures. Her mom waited until it was covered by Medicaid to get her on it. It didn't eliminate them completely, but I did see a decrease.

[missingthebigdog]

22. It will NEVER be paid for in Arkansas by Medicaid

Arkansas does now have medical marijuana, and she meets the criteria for a card. Unfortunately, she is quite developmentally delayed, and nonverbal. Getting a “caretaker” card requires extra hoops.

As far as whether we have tried it, I will plead the fifth on that in this public forum. However, at best, it would be supplemental to her prescribed meds.

[sakabatou]

8. :(

[BlancheSplanchnik]

10. 💔😰😪

[ffr]

11. Tears.

[hlthe2b]

13. The cruelest aspect of COVID-19 is the indiscriminant harm...

Not that anyone deserves to suffer, obviously, but this little girl has already had a lifetime of suffering.

I am so bothered by this, I can't focus today.

[Hortensis]

16. Sad but not heartbreaking to me. In spite of great improvement

in what had been a dreadful life with pain, severe disability and brain damage, the miracle didn't make her a healthy little girl living a normal life like her twin sister. Her short life did have special purpose, though.

“Charlotte is no longer suffering. She is seizure-free forever." Her family.

[missingthebigdog]

24. Okay. . . .

I am sure you didn't mean it this way, but this comment really hit a nerve for me.

This was a child who, despite her disabilities, was living her life. A life that, while not "normal" was full. She struggled with developmental and medical issues, but she had a life. She had friends, family, people who loved her and who she loved, and activities that she enjoyed.

My youngest daughter is a person with severe challenges. She is in her twenties, and it is likely that she will never live independently. She is non-verbal. She has seizures. She requires medication and almost constant supervision. She loves to shop, loves music, and has a wicked sense of humor. This is Spinal Tap is her favorite movie. I would be devastated to lose her. Furthermore, I do not believe that she would choose not to live. Her life is the life she has, and she lives it to the fullest extent of her capability to do so.

There are lots of people in the world not living "normal" lives. People with developmental disabilities, like my kids. People with physical disabilities. People with mental illnesses. People with addiction problems. Those people still have lives worth living.

Beyond that, sometimes, if you can hold on just a little longer, a miracle happens. A scientist makes a discovery, or an inventor has an idea. And then a life that wasn't "normal" suddenly has the possibility of becoming more "normal. That miracle happened for Charlotte once, and it might have happened again, if not for this cruel turn.

On behalf of myself and all of the other parents who have children that are not "healthy little girls" living normal lives, and who dare to hope that there might be a miracle for them, someday, I ask you to consider where the line should be drawn? What if my daughter's life doesn't have "special purpose?" Will it have been a life not worth living?

[niyad]

17. Fuck that murdering bastard drumpf. Her blood, like all the others, is on his hands,

My heart goes out to her family.

[MontanaMama]

18. I use Charlotte's Web CBD formulations.

This is heartbreaking. Safe home baby girl. Damn.

[mountain grammy]

19. Just when you think you have no tears left..

[SunSeeker]

20. ..

[hibbing]

21. Oh my, sad sad sad n/t

[Cha]

25. I'm so sorry.. sweet thing..

RIP Charlotte

Mahalo, hithe2b~StaySafe

Did she get it in the hospital?

[hlthe2b]

26. The entire family had been ill for a month but had not qualified for testing based on symptoms

She eventually was but tested negative but there is reason to believe she may have had a false negative test as her symptoms became very consistent according to reports. I hope she has been tested again because she really is a likely COVID-19 associated death and should be counted as such from everything I've seen. There was one other youth death that has yet to be officially declared COVID-19-related in Colorado.

I think we are grossly underestimating COVID-19 mortality overall (funeral homes and coroners are not being given tests nationwide to confirm suspect deaths and in cities like NYC there is a real increase in home deaths). Even more important though is to document to the extent it is occurring in younger people.

This one is really tragic.

May we all get through this and be the wiser for it.