The parents of a Belfast teenager dying from the human form of BSE have won the right for their son to have potentially life-prolonging surgery in Northern Ireland.
The parents of Jonathan Simms got a similar order in a London court last week but had to re-apply in the High Court in Belfast because the original order does not extend to the province.
Jonathan (18), a former schoolboy soccer international, has deteriorated dramatically since he was diagnosed with variant CJD a year ago.
But following the ruling by the Lord Chief Justice Sir Robert Carswell, he will now have a blood-thinning compound injected into his brain.
The drug, Pentosan Poly-sulphate (PPS), has never been tried on humans before but studies on animals have led the Simms family to believe it could help their son.
The court was told by a surgeon via a video link from his hospital that the operation could be carried out in Northern Ireland.
The Lord Chief Justice said he was making the order to allow the treatment to go ahead because he accepted the surgeon's conclusion that the object was to maximise benefit and minimise risk.
Referring to last week's judgement by Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, head of the Family Division of the High Court in England, the judge said he could not improve on the wording or the sentiments.
Dame Butler Sloss said there was a possibility of prolonging life, whether it was weeks, months or years and added: "I consider the benefit of even a little longer life as worth having."