OTTAWA – It is the best Christmas Gift ever for Devon Nicholson and his family and friends.
After suffering through a torturous chemotherapy-like 9 month Experimental Hepatitis C treatment in 2012 and the first half of 2013 Devon Nicholson received an early Christmas gift last week. Nicholson received the wonderful news that he tested negative six months post treatment and received a Sustained Viral Response which essentially means that he is ‘cured’ of the potentially deadly disease for good.
Nicholson has been told that the only way the Hepatitis C virus can come back now is if he is re-infected.
The 36 week “Incivek” triple therapy treatment that Nicholson was on consisted of 504 Incivek pills (189 000 mg’s), 1 771 Ribavirin Tabs (354 000 mg’s) and 37 Interferon injections.
The treatment is still in the experimental phase for Nicholson Genotype (Genotype 2) in Canada however it has been approved for use on Genotype 1 patients. Unfortunately there is no government coverage for the new therapy for both Genotype’s and the powerful medications can cost between 60 and 80k.
Hepatitis C is known to effect more than 200 million people worldwide and now kills more people than AIDS. Many infected people do not know they have the disease as it is not part of regular physical testing. The blood to blood disease is spread mainly by infected blood products and blood tools, unsanitary tattoo or piercing tools, blood and organ transfusions before 1990, the sharing of razor blades, the use of unsanitary injection tools and military veterans and personnel who have been exposed to other blood.
Nicholson believes the disease was transmitted to him by the hepatitis C positive WWE Hall of Famer Larry “Abdullah The Butcher” Shreve when he was cut without permission with an unsanitary razor blade in a 2007 professional wrestling match. The sharing of razor blades and cutting other performers without consent is not common practice or accepted in the professional wrestling industry.
Nicholson has filed a lawsuit alleging negligence, assault and battery against the “hard-core wrestling” star and Shreve’s Statement of Defence was thrown out in a motion in September. The trial before a jury is scheduled to take place in the Ontario Superior Court of justice the week of March 31st 2013. Nicholson is represented by Ronald Caza of the Caza Saikaley firm in Ottawa.
Devon, a former Freestyle Wrestling National champion and Olympic trials Silver medalist in Greco Roman Wrestling lost approximately 45 pounds during his treatment during his treatment due to the muscle wasting side effects. After much hard training he has gained almost all of it back 6 months post treatment and he is back training in amateur wrestling regularly with coach Doug Yeates at the Tristar MMA fighting academy in Montreal. Nicholson plans to return to athletics in 2014.
