Six year old eats a box of cornflour a day or he could DIE

George Morrison consumes a box of cornflour every day. Without it he could slip into a coma and die.

George, from the UK, suffers from a rare and life-threatening glycogen storage disease (GSD). He is fed cornflour every three hours and constantly through the night on a feed to prevent dangerous symptoms caused by GSD.

Pharmacists recently stopped dispensing the substance and are instead offering an alternative that has not yet been tested on under-eights.

The Daily Mail reports, cornflower is no longer listed in the British National Formulary, a pharmaceutical reference book that contains information and advice on prescribing, which means pharmacies are unable to dispense it. The alternative drug, Glycosade, has been tested in America but not in the UK.

George’s parents Sam, 43, and Pete Morrison, 36, of Darlington, now struggle to keep up with the cost of their son’s constant cornflour consumption.

For six months they have been forced to purchase seven boxes of cornflour a week from the supermarket, with George consuming just under a box a day.

Sam, who works for the Department of Education, said: ‘If George gets low blood sugar, he will fit and requires urgent medical help.

‘If it’s not caught quickly enough, George will fall into a coma and he will die.

‘The ongoing medication that helps his condition is cooked cornflour – he takes 30g of cornflour several times a day and it is saving his life.

‘We have a prescription from the doctor but no chemist in Darlington will prescribe it to me as it’s apparently not on their lists any more.

‘It’s critical for George and they’re playing with his life – every child in this country is entitled to free prescriptions.’

‘George needs this to stay healthy and keep him alive. We have got an NHS and they are refusing to provide us. Glycosade costs so much more money than cornflour, it is costing the NHS more money.

‘I have been told it is an untested drug. I would not want to take that risk with my child.

‘I want the NHS to have a bit of empathy and not leave the problem with us.

‘I was angry, GSD is so rare not a lot of people have heard of it. We have had to fight for it.

‘I’m having to buy cornflour in bulk from Morrisons but I don’t see why when it’s a life-threatening condition that needs this medication.

‘It’s so frustrating, George is a lovely little boy and I just want to make sure he has a future.’

Share your comments below.

23 Comments

- - Melissa89 said
  - 19 Jul 2016
    8:23 am
That is devastating! Poor boy 🙁 What he must have to go through 🙁

- - Mum to one said
  - 04 Mar 2016
    10:57 am
I have never heard of this before.. The poor boy, it must be horrible! I hope he gets the helphe needs!

- - mom94125 said
  - 28 Feb 2016
    5:02 pm
yes i have never heard of this before and it must be so stressful. poor kid, that wouldn’t be nice to consume like that.

- - meedee said
  - 13 Feb 2016
    9:35 pm
Good Lord…there really are some strange medical issues out there.
I think I would be contacting a warehouse and seeing about buying cornflour by the carton at a discount rate.

- - rachelvk said
  - 13 Feb 2016
    5:25 pm
It sounds like a very strange situation. I hope young George gets the treatment he needs.

- - mom93821 said
  - 13 Feb 2016
    8:08 am
Sometimes contacting the companies directly can help in getting what is needed for treatment.

- - Lori-Anne said
  - 13 Feb 2016
    7:24 am
What an amazing story. I hope that the situation of supply through the pharmacies can be rectified. This young boy needs it for his life.

- - mum4107 said
  - 13 Feb 2016
    6:07 am
I have never heard of this before. I hope the family can find a better way to get the cornflour cheaper and in bulk

- - youngoldlady said
  - 13 Feb 2016
    1:27 am
I know it is not fair that a government can control who can have treatment and who can not get it. This can affect one in 20,000 people with different types of GSD even one type that can not be treated. Corn flour has been proven to help these people to survive but still leaving some with terrible problems. Some needing liver transplants to live.

- - crystalangela said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    11:46 pm
I think I would ship in the drug from the US

- - june11 said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    9:33 pm
If I was his parents I would contact the supplier and find out if they can buy it in bulk catering size packs. It may be cheaper that way. Also what happens if the supermarkets have a special promotion and run out of stock.

- - mom160421 said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    9:31 pm
This must be horrible for this young boy and his family. Hopefully an alternative aid can be found soon.

- - BellaB said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    7:07 pm
This is bizarre, but it does seem he should get the help he needs.

- - mom90758 said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    2:49 pm
What a terrible illness! I’ve never heard about it before! I hope they will soon test this new medicine in the UK so the boy will be able to try it.

- - coastalkaryn said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    2:20 pm
jeepers – you learn something new every day!! Poor love, hope it turns out well for his family

- - mom140986 said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    12:11 pm
It is so sad that this young boy has to endure this everyday of his life I hope they get a cure for this problem one day. You just don’t know how lucky you are when you have good health.

- - serotonin said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    12:10 pm
How very scary! I’m glad they are able to give him something at least so he is able to function, but it shouldn’t be something he has to do for the rest of his life. Hopefully this article will help get something done!

- - mom74640 said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    11:56 am
Lke hd

- - cairnsbliss said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    10:25 am
This poor family and boy. I must admit this article was slightly confusing but I get the gist is that he isn’t getting the drugs that could help him. I hope this family receive good news soon.

- - mom103920 said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    10:23 am
What an incredible battle this family are facing. It is bizarre there can not be an exception made to keep receiving medication through the chemist, but I understand the UK health system does work slightly different to that in Australia.