A PARKINSON’S disease sufferer is leading calls for a treatment to return on the back of a starring role in an award-winning documentary.

Vicki Dillon, of Hexham, featured in the BBC2 two-part documentary The Parkinson’s Drug Trial: A Miracle Cure?, which was successful in the recent, prestigious Grierson Awards for documentaries.

Vicki was one of the first six people in the world to undergo a radical new treatment which saw a protein called glial cell derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) administered directly to the brain.

During the trial, she was followed by filmmakers for five years.

Despite the fact Vicki and many other participants showed vast improvements, assessments showed there was not enough difference between the active treatment group and those who received placebo, and the trial was dropped.

However, the success in the Grierson Awards, named after the Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson, has reopened calls to bring back the treatment.

She said: “I was very emotional. I had accepted the fact that GDNF was over, but I don’t think we can let it go. It’s too important.

“It’s more than three years now since I had an infusion and I’m getting worse. I can’t wait any longer.

“I’m proud the documentary won the award.

“Hopefully it will help to raise more awareness for our cause, which is to raise money for phase three of the trial, which would entail GDNF being tested on new patients.

“We’re still here. The trial is over but the story is not over.”

For the trial to return, around £3m would need to be sourced. To help raise awareness of her campaign, she was hoping to enlist a choir of fellow Parkinson’s patients to release a song in time for Christmas.

Vicki said: “What I want to do is turn it into a song for a choir made up of participants and other Parkies. There’s no country that likes a charity single better than the UK.”

Donations to Vicki's campaign can be made at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/victoria-dillon9.