A SCOT with multiple sclerosis (MS) claims to be pain-free for the first time in 12 years after receiving a controversial stem cell treatment.

Mark Westwell, 45, from the Isle of Skye, underwent surgery earlier this month at a clinic in Co Cork, Ireland.

His wife Carole, 43, said his life had been transformed by the £12,400 procedure, which is not available in Britain and has yet to be licensed in Ireland.

She added that the effect had been “dramatic and astounding” and almost immediate.

“Mark has suffered terribly from his condition,” she said. “He has experienced intense pain and has described it at times as though an articulated lorry was crushing his leg. It has had a devastating effect on his life.

“Now, although he is suffering from a relapse and having to travel to and from Ireland, the distressing symptoms of his condition, the pain in particular, are gone. He felt this way when he woke up after the procedure and it’s been like that since.”

Westwell was diagnosed with MS in 1987 and is now confined to a wheelchair.

The Westwells learned of the treatment last year and intended to travel to Rotterdam in Holland for the operation but switched to Ireland when they learned it was available there.

Islanders on Skye raised part of the money to pay for the surgery.

The technique is being pioneered by Advanced Cell Therapeutics, a Swiss biotechnology company, which is understood to be operating from a doctor’s premises in Cork.

The company is being examined by the Irish Medicines Board.

Both the British and Irish governments have refused to license the procedure because they say not enough is known about its long-term effects.

Yesterday Carole Westwell called on the UK and Irish governments to allow the treatment to be made available to other MS sufferers.

Times Recommends

• Swine flu vaccine for all as drug rushed through
• Artificial sperm and the race to build a baby
• BBC jets out stars to tout for prizes