I would starve rather than see my son go without meds...his health comes first

Mum blasts €150 pill costs

-  EMMA McMENAMY

A DISTRAUGHT mum has been forced to fork out €150 a week for vital medication for her autistic son to stop him from bouncing off the walls.

Nadine Staunton, 32, hit out at the Government for cutting payments for her nine-year-old son Maddix's nighttime prescription for melatonin tablets.

The young mum of three, from North King Street in Dublin city center, said she cannot afford the pills but would rather starve” than see him suffer.

The schoolboy, who attends a specialist school in Donnycarney, struggles with learning disabilities, OCD, and self-harm caused by violent tantrums.

Nadine has called for Taoiseach Michael Martin to step into her shoes and see how Maddix bounces off the walls all night” if he doesn't get the medicine he needs.

Speaking to the Irish Sunday Mirror, the young mother told how she was only informed of the decision to stop funding the tablets in recent weeks.