Natalie, 7, fights killer illness with daily dose of sex drug

Published on Monday 1 September 2008 23:08

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD girl with a rare illness is being kept alive thanks to four doses of Viagra a day.

Natalie Archibald fell ill 18 months ago, and doctors at first put it down to over-excitement.

But she was later found to be suffering from the lung condition primary pulmonary hypertension, a rare affliction in children.

She was taken to Great Ormond Street children's hospital in London, where she was prescribed Viagra, better known for helping men's sex lives.

Mother Janis Archibald, 46, said: "At first when we saw the programme of drugs, Viagra was given the proper medical name (of Sildenafil or Revatio) so we didn't know what it was.

"It was only when we looked into it a bit more and, of course, then came all the jokes.

"But seriously, it has transformed her life. I've never seen her so happy. She can run, jump, skip – all the things her friends do.

"We have a wheelchair for her if she gets exhausted, but we've never had to use it, and I hope she grows out of it before we do need it."

Mrs Archibald, of Musselburgh, first saw a change in her daughter on Christmas Day 2006 when she collapsed after opening presents.

Paramedics put it down to over-excitement, but when the Loretto Primary School pupil continued to pass out and regularly turned blue, Mrs Archibald was forced to quit her job as a legal secretary.

Since starting the programme of drugs, Natalie is no longer experiences such symptoms, but the condition still threatens her life.

The incurable illness causes high blood pressure in the lungs and strains the heart, with potentially fatal consequences. Viagra opens the arteries and improves blood flow to her lungs.