Wendy DamonteChannel 2 News
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug call "Kalydeco" that doctors are calling a cure to a deadly disease.
We're talking about cystic fibrosis. Right now, the average life span of a patient is just 37 years old. But now doctors are calling this the biggest development for the disease since it was first diagnosed.
For the past 9 years, little Caprie and her family have been living with the realities of cystic fibrosis.
"My child was going to die young, that she may not get married, that she may not even graduate from high school," explained Caprie's mom, Nicole Faulk.
But then back in July 2009, they learned of a clinical study. So they quit their jobs, sold their house and moved to Tennessee.
"We were willing to give up everything we knew. Give up all of our family that we had here and all of our support just for a chance for our daughter to be health," Faulk said.
Within three weeks they noticed it was working. "I just sat on the curb and bawled and bawled and bawled. It will save lives starting immediately," Faulk said of the study.
Dr. James Royal with Oklahoma University Children's worked on some of the trials. "I'm happy to use the word cure. It's a little hard for someone who has cystic fibrosis to use the word cure."
Since she started on the drug, Caprie has gained 30 pounds and her lung function is the best it's ever been. With FDA approval, other families now have the same hope.
