THROUGH all the pain and suffering, the heartache and the grief, there is today one more reason for the family and friends of Dan Haslam to take more hope and comfort from his tortuous journey and the tragedy of his young death.
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Thirty terminally ill people being cared for at Newcastle’s Calvary Mater Hospital will take part in a new trial of medical cannabis.
University of NSW researchers will work with the hospital patients to examine what effects vapourised cannabis leaves and a form of pharmaceutical cannabis medication have on people who are dying of cancer and suffering symptoms including fatigue, nausea and insomnia.
The trial will be undertaken by palliative care specialist Meera Agar and will examine whether vapourising cannabis leaf provides the beneficial effects of cannabis on appetite to be very quickly felt by the body, but without some of the toxic side effects of inhaling smoke.
They are, says his mother Lucy, based on what Dan Haslam actually experienced.
Monday’s news from Premier Mike Baird has coincided with a metropolitan newspaper column yesterday. This is what Mr Baird wrote in it:
“There are some things that stay with you no matter how much time passes.
“Almost a year ago, I met a young man named Dan Haslam, and the look in his eyes that day is something that will remain with me always.
“Dan was 23, planning a future with his wife Alyce; to have children and to start a hobby farm. He wanted to talk to me about the use of medical cannabis and what a difference it had made in his battle with cancer. Cannabis oil had allowed him to eat again and gain weight – something that felt a little like a miracle after chemotherapy had robbed him of his appetite.
“There are few things more humbling than being faced with a parent prepared to do absolutely anything for their child. I saw it with Dan’s parents Lucy and Lou Haslam.
“Dan’s own dreams of a family and a farm will never be realised. I said my goodbyes to him earlier this year, standing in the dry grass of Tamworth along with his friends and family.
“But his legacy lives on and this week I am proud to launch Australia’s first medical cannabis trial for terminally ill patients.
“This is about hope and it is about compassion. Every step we take on medical cannabis will be built on the footsteps Dan left behind.”
Such simple words, such a strong message.
Such a powerful validation of the Haslams’ such god-awful, gut-wrenching experience.
