Meet the man behind first plant-derived, anti-inflammatory drug saving lives

In the 1800s, modern medicine was not accessible to many people on the island of Trinidad. However, a traditional healer named Arabella Skinner used Caribbean Pine resin to treat her community. 

Mother Skinner, as she was popularly called, used compounds from a rare tree found only on the island to blend with other herbs, plants and natural ingredients known to have healing materials like anti-inflammatory properties.

The traditional remedy became dormant for decades following her demise but has been reinvented by her grandson Caleb Williams, who is the founder and CEO of SprainGo, LLC, in Tampa, Florida. Williams is carrying his grandmother’s legacy with RelieveIt, a pain relief drug.

“My grandmother spent her whole life bringing healing to her community,” said Williams, according to bizjournals. “I know I have the opportunity to bring her remedy to the masses and change the world.”

He remembered the remedy when his son suffered a severe ankle sprain at a pro soccer tryout in Orlando. “At 7 a.m. the next day, my son reported the swelling and pain was nearly gone allowing him to return and complete the tryouts,” Williams was quoted by thefloridastar. 

“Witnessing an overnight recovery of a sprain that could have benched my son for weeks, became one of the driving forces that had me walk away from my executive role in the financial services industry and provide to you access to my grandmother’s amazing natural healing remedy.”

Williams is an entrepreneur with a successful career in international finance. He quit his banking job and invested his savings into the discovery. He enrolled in the University of South Florida Tech Incubator in 2017 to further test the efficacy of the solution.

“I presented to them in the backend of 2017, saying (the amount of money) companies spent in workers comp and with athletes, (sprains) are the most common injury,” he told bizjournals. “And said ‘If you can help me back these years of anecdotes up with science, we can make the world of better place.'”

He recently appeared on Home Shopping Network to show off the natural pain-relieving product and sold over 1,900 units of RelieveIt. Besides Relieveit, Williams is also working on a treatment for mosquito bites, as well as a skincare line.

Aside from the foot spray, Williams has manufactured a RelieveIt gel and RelieveIt topical ointment. He is also hoping to create a drinkable version of the RelieveIt product. “Imagine having a cup of tea or coffee before bed and instead of drugs in your body you have RelieveIt,” Williams said. “In addition to all the things we mentioned (in the product line), that’s the end game where we really people lives.”