A Bonhill woman with cystic fibrosis has pleaded “please don’t let us die” to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in an emotional letter.

Kelli Gallacher, 24, is fighting for drugs to be made available which could help CF sufferers, and which have currently been ruled to be too expensive by the Scottish Medicines Consortium.

Kelli’s condition places her life expectancy at just 31, and she aspires to become a dance teacher and run her own dance school.

In a bid for action, she penned her message to Ms Sturgeon, begging her to “get involved” and help her and other sufferers benefit from Orkambi, which can help stop lung function deterioration, as well as other new drugs.

She wrote: “Perhaps to help you understand how I feel every day, you could try holding your nose and breathing through a straw for 60 seconds.

“I deserve a future and these new drugs could help me achieve this. I deserve a future like everyone else.”

Kelli, who takes daily medication and undergoes physio to manage her CF, told the Reporter she found it difficult to find the words for the letter, being a positive person by nature.

“It took me a while, I’m not a negative person,” she said.

“To have the drugs would mean just to have more of a life. On a bad day I can’t get off the couch, I’m coughing non-stop.

“I just want to be able to have peace and reach my goals – I want everybody to have that.

“I think it’s a brave thing I’m doing. I’ve had great support. If I can do it, someone else out there can share their story too. The more stories, the better for the campaign.”

Kelli’s proud mum Maggie told the Reporter the First Minister and the Scottish Government “have the chance to do something extraordinary to save lives”.

The family have been supported in their campaign by Dumbarton’s MSP, Jackie Baillie, who has commended Kelli for her bravery.

Ms Baillie said: “By telling her story, she is helping all those with cystic fibrosis get access to medicine that will help to save their lives.

“Clinicians tells us the powerful difference this new generation of drugs can make to life expectancy.

“If we can stop people like Kelli from dying, then surely we should do exactly that.

“I am very disappointed that the health secretary has refused to meet a cross-party group of MSPs.

“But I hope the First Minister will respond compassionately to Kelli’s heartfelt plea.”

Kelli will now meet with health secretary Shona Robison later this month.

Ms Robison said:“I thank Kelli for her letter bringing attention to this important issue and will continue to do all that we can to provide patients in Scotland with the most effective treatments. I’m looking forward to seeing Kelli in the near future to discuss this further with her.

“Talks between Vertex Pharmaceuticals and NHS National Procurement are on-going and I strongly encourage Vertex to submit fresh applications for Orkambi to the SMC, at a price that is fair.

“Decisions made by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) are independent of ministers and parliament.

“However, we have significantly improved access to new medicines in recent years as a result of our investment and reforms.

“These include the introduction of a new system for doctors, on behalf of individual patients, to access licensed treatments not yet generally available on the NHS in Scotland.”