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12 cannabis patient care | vol. 2 no. 2 cannapatientcare.com caregiver focus S TEVEN MATTHEW FIGI (known as Matt) and his for- mer spouse Paige were living the American dream in Colorado. They met in college, got married, shared a love for traveling, and soon started a family. Their eldest child, Max, was born in 2004 and in 2006 they had twin girls, Charlotte (known as Charlie) and Chase. When Charlotte was 3 months old, she had her first seizure and the Figi's lives would be forever changed (1). Matt explained that after the first seizure, Charlotte had about one seizure a month during her first year. Each time would result in an ER visit and oftentimes a dose of vali- um, or other addictive drugs such as barbiturates and ben- zodiazepines, to give Charlotte a chance to rest. Eventually, the Figi's decided to take her to Children's Hospital Colora- do when she was 3 years old to have an expensive blood test done. There they discovered that she had a rare genetic dis- order called Dravet syndrome. "She had a mutation of the SCN1A gene, and this is what specifically caused her to have Dravet syndrome," said Matt. "So, the next logical question would be is, what is Dravet syndrome? It's one of the worst possible forms of epilepsy one can have and it led to Char- lotte having numerous tonic-clonic seizures, formally known as grand mal seizures." According to the Epilepsy Foundation (2), Dravet syndrome "is a rare, genetic epileptic encephalopathy that gives rise to seizures that don't respond well to seizure medications. It begins in the first year of life in an otherwise healthy infant." Charlotte Figi: Patient, Advocate, Trailblazer, and Much More B Y M E G A N L' H E U R E U X For many in the medical cannabis industry, Charlotte Figi's name is synonymous with Charlotte's Web—the famous hemp cannabidiol (CBD) company founded by the Stanley Brothers. Charlotte and her family's journey with medical cannabis goes far beyond the famous CBD brand though. Here, we share Charlotte's story through the eyes of her father, Matt Figi, and the enduring legacy she has left on the world.