Alfie Dingley back in hospital after seizure cluster

A boy whose parents want him to be given cannabis to treat a rare form of epilepsy has been rushed back into hospital.

Alfie Dingley, aged six, was admitted after suffering from a cluster of seizures and is being given intravenous steroids.

Alfie Dingley cannabis licence
Alfie Dingley cannabis licence

It is the second time he has been hospitalised since returning from Holland last month, where he was being treated with cannabis oil.

His parents want the Government to let him use the medication, a banned substance in the UK, to help with his symptoms.

Alfie's mother Hannah Deacon has appealed to the Home Office and Prime Minister Theresa May to "act to help my beloved son survive and have the best life he can".

"We need your urgent compassion and action now. Please don't stand by and let my son suffer or die unnecessarily," she added.

"To see him in distress in hospital with his life in danger yet again is traumatic and heartbreaking," she said.

"My son is suffering."

Alfie Dingley cannabis licence
Alfie Dingley cannabis licence

Ms Deacon, from Kenilworth in Warwickshire, added that the medical cannabis products "are the only ones which have worked" to reduce Alfie's seizures in number, duration and severity.

Cannabis oil is currently illegal in the UK, despite being available for medical purposes throughout Europe, including in the Netherlands where Alfie and his family spent five months paying for treatment.

Alfie Dingley cannabis licence
Alfie Dingley cannabis licence

Alfie's seizures, which can number up to 20 or 30 a day, can gradually be controlled in UK hospitals, but over time it is likely he would be institutionalised with psychosis and die prematurely.

The Home Office has previously said it would consider a medical cannabis trial as an option for Alfie.

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