A CRITICALLY ill teenager has begged the NHS to reverse a decision to refuse him life saving drugs on cost grounds.

Bournemouth School pupil Lewis Brimble suffers from a rare kidney disease and has already had one transplant.

Now he has launched an online petition in a bid to convince the NHS England Commissioning Board to allow him to have Eculizumab.

The drug, which can cost millions of pounds per patient, has been approved for NHS use in some areas.

Lewis' family has just one chance to appeal the decision by NHS England.

In a letter to the board, Lewis, 14, told how he was diagnosed with MPGN, a life-threatening disease, when he was just nine-years-old and spent two years on dialysis before receiving a transplant from his mum, Su, in 2011.

He said: "Life on dialysis is not really a life at all, merely an existence. I was nauseous all the time, I had excruciatingly painful headaches, I hardly ever went to school."

He said the transplant improved his life but the disease has now returned in his transplanted kidney.

"We had been looking into Eculizumab for a long time and had been previously told that when I got to this stage I would get it. Now we don't know how long it will take for me to get to the stage when I need dialysis but, if the drug worked, it would stop my disease from getting any worse."

Lewis added: "It is a very expensive drug but this comes at a time for me that if I deteriorate in the next 18 months I will surely fail my GCSEs and my dream of becoming a doctor will remain a dream and won't be possible."

Lewis' petition on the website change.org has the support of nearly 2,500 people. Lewis told them: "Recently the NHS have declined my application for Eculizumab, the only drug in the world that could save my life."

Lewis, who lives in Southbourne with his mum and sister, Jaz, was recently selected to represent Team GB at the World Transplant Games in Argentina in August. Last year he won several members at the national games in Bolton.

He competed in badminton, table tennis, the ball throw, 100m and long jump. He also enjoys bowls and cricket and plays the piano.

Tobias Ellwood, MP for Bournemouth East until the dissolution of Parliament at the start of the election campaign, said he would be looking into the case.

He said: “There is an appeal process to be followed and I will look at this very carefully and see what can be done. There is clearly a case for Lewis Brimble to receive this important medication.

“I hope that common sense prevails.”

NHS England was due to be preparing a response regarding Lewis’ treatment.

This had not been received when the Daily Echo went to press.