Using deep brain stimulation to treat epilepsy is the subject of much discussion. Rightly so. It sounds scary, doesn’t it?

Well, 13-year-old Oran Knowlson, from Somerset, has made history as the first patient in the world to have this delicate procedure. Three cheers. Oran could suffer hundreds of seizures a day. Since having it, his daytime seizures have decreased by 80%, vastly improving his quality of life. Surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital mounted a device to his skull and attached it to electrodes in the brain to reduce seizure activity.

The device delivers constant ­electrical stimulation deep in his brain and is rechargeable through wearable headphones. This is the first UK clinical trial assessing this type of treatment for children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy. Multiple teams were involved, from research and development, surgery, nursing and neurology to imaging, anaesthetics and neurophysiology.

A pilot study will now recruit three more patients, before 22 more take part in a further trial sponsored by University College London. Martin Tisdall of GOSH and professor at UCL, said: “Every single day we see the ­life-threatening and life-limiting impacts of uncontrollable epilepsy.

“It can make school, hobbies or even just watching a favourite TV show utterly impossible. For Oran and his family, epilepsy completely changed their lives and so to see him riding a horse and getting his independence back is absolutely astounding. We couldn’t be happier to be part of their journey.

“Deep brain stimulation brings us closer than ever before to stopping epileptic seizures for patients who have very limited effective treatment options. We are excited to build the evidence base to demonstrate the ability of deep brain stimulation to treat paediatric epilepsy and hope in years to come it will be a standard treatment we can offer.” Oran had surgery in October 2023 to insert the device.

His mum, Justine, said: “We’ve been switched on since December and we’ve seen a big ­improvement, seizures have reduced and are lesssevere. That’s been great but the quality of life improvement has been invaluable forOran. The future looks hopeful which I wouldn’t have dreamed of saying six months ago. For Oran, having hope brings excitement. It makes the future brighter and more attainable even. I’m really pleased that Oran gets to ­experience that.”

Professor Tim Denison of Oxford University and lead engineer said: “Oran is the first child in the world to receive this investigational device and we are extremely pleased that it has had such a positive benefit for him and his family.”

We all are.