His parents say none of his medical complications mattered as long as they could have a son.”Something told us this is what we need to do,” Eddie Strek said.The couple said doctors told them Kaden would probably only live three months, but seven years later he’s still with them.The family is trying to raise donations to get Kaden stem cell donations in China, something they said could change his life. But the trip and treatment will cost at least $40,000.Anyone interested in donating to the family can do so at: 3070 Normandy Road Royal Oak, MI, 48073 Or, use a Pay Pal account at www.helpkaden.org.

The recent advancements in medical therapies using Adult Stem Cells has shown significant improvements in the quality of life of several cerebral palsy patients treated in China. Neil has been accepted for adult stem cell therapy in China and has desperately seeking financial support.

Neil’s constant prayers and reaching out for help was answered by the Catholic Church. Reverend Thomas Weise splits his time between two Roman Catholic Churches, St. Patrick’s Church and the Mother Mary Parish, both of Phenix City, AL. Reverend Thomas Weise, a theologian with four degrees, is dedicated to helping his community. After meeting Neil and introducing him to the church community Reverend Weise is heading the fund raising for Neil’s adult stem cell therapies in China. Neil’s treatments are scheduled for next month, December 28th, 2010.

Our sincere thanks to Reverend Thomas Weise and the church community of Phenix City, Alabama.

God Bless!

Carol Peterson

A DESPERATE young mum needs to raise £30,000 to fund pioneering stem cell treatment for her baby daughter.

One-year-old Taylor Johnson has septo optic dysplasia which causes underdeveloped nerves from the eye to the brain.

As a result she is blind and also has hormonal problems that cause seizures and diabetes.

Taylor has the same condition as glamour model Katie Price’s son Harvey which is caused by a defect when the embryo is developing.

Mum Tia Aitken and dad Lloyd Johnson said they were devastated when Taylor was diagnosed at four months.

They started researching straight away to see if there was anything that could be done to help.

Tia found information online about the Beike Biotech in Shenzhen, China which offers stem cell treatment – but the total cost amounts to £30,000.

She has now launched a massive fundraising bid in the hope she will be able to send her daughter to China before Christmas next year.

So far she has organised a number of events to raise over £900 and has other events in the pipeline.

Tia (21) from Hardhill Road in Bathgate, told the Courier: “We were obviously devastated when Taylor was diagnosed and afterwards spent a lot of time researching what could be done online.

“We found out about Beike Biotech and followed a lot of the stories as they all have the same condition as Taylor and everybody came back and had some improvement. Many will never have perfect 20/20 vision but they are better.”

Beike Biotech specialises in stem cell technology, with umbilical cord, cord blood and bone marrow stem cells. There website says doctors provide treatment for various conditions including cerebral palsy, lower limb ischemia, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury and optic nerve damage.

Tia said while the treatment in China may not cure her daughter’s condition entirely, the family are hopeful it will improve her life.

“This has given us a bit of hope,” said Tia. “People have been taking their children there for miracles and we want to take Taylor there for her own miracle.”

LATON HILL, Ala. — On a porch swing at the back of her country home, Gail Williams held close her 3-year old granddaughter, Emma Lathan, rocking gently to soothe her.

“I love all my grandchildren to death,” said Williams, “I’d do anything for them. Emma” — she looked down at the child, with a zebra-print dress and pink bow in her curly brown hair — “that one grabs my heart.”

Born with cerebral palsy and a chromosome disorder that affects growth, Emma is clearly loved.

Emma’s mother, Shea Lathan, works as a medical assistant in a doctor’s office in nearby Chatom, so she depends on Nanny — grandmother Williams’ nickname — to help with Emma’s care. Grandfather “Poppa” Williams, plus aunts, uncles, cousins and townfolk, are deeply supportive, too.“Everybody knows Emma,” said Williams.

A fundraiser is scheduled tomorrow — a motorcycle ride from Mobile to Chatom, then a picnic, complete with band, at the destination for anyone who wants to join in. The hope is to raise the approximately $10,000 needed for Emma to attend a five-week session at Ability Camp, a camp for physical therapy, utilizing hyperbaric oxygen treatment, in Picton, Ontario, Canada.

Williams’ sister, Nina Johnson, who works in the Harley-Davidson store in Mobile, is helping to arrange it.

Charles Singleton, Washington County’s probate judge, is in charge of cooking the meat for the pulled pork sandwiches.

A website for Ability Camp proposes “an intensive training and rehabilitation program” for patients dealing with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, stroke, and other challenges. The training “goes well beyond traditional therapies.”

Williams first learned about the camp from a man whose son has cerebral palsy. He told her that the son had visited the camp twice, to positive effect.

A deeply religious woman — her church, True Vine Baptist Church in Springbank is involved in the fundraiser — Williams believes that “God has a blessing waiting for Emma.”

Williams plans to accompany Emma there, as does Emma’s mom. Her prayer is that Emma comes home being able to hold her head up on her own, stand up and move “with the help of walking sticks,” and be able to eat without a feeding tube.

“If I don’t see Emma walk on this earth,” Williams said, “I know when I get to heaven I’ll see her running.”

Lathan gave birth to Emma on Feb. 5, 2007, at Mobile’s Providence Hospital. In addition to cerebral palsy, the baby had a heart condition known as coarctation of the aorta — a potentially deadly narrowing of the main artery leading from her heart.

They went to Birmingham for heart surgery. Emma then spent a month at USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, with her mom daily driving the 90 minutes from Chatom to be with her.

Williams, who worked as a cook at Washington County High School cafeteria for 15 years, quit her job to be available for Emma full-time.

“She’s a huge part of Emma’s life,” said Lathan.

On a bright, fall day, with cows grazing just beyond the porch, Emma’s 2-year-old cousin, Tessa, held up a toy computer for Emma that played children’s nursery rhymes.

Emma was fascinated.

The little girl loves music, said Williams, and swimming — grownups holding her hands up as Emma dances in the water.

Lathan just took Emma horseback riding last week, putting Emma in front of her in the saddle.

“She laughed her head off,” said Lathan.

“She’s a beautiful little girl,” said Williams, gazing at her granddaughter’s curly brown hair. “She just happened to be born with cerebral palsy.”

At the age of 2 years Neil had a difficult time crawling and he wasn’t gaining weight.  He was diagnosed with mixed cerebral palsy and was the size of the average 10 month baby.  At 5 years, Neil was struggling to walk as his grandparents walked behind him and kept him from falling.  For nine consecutive months, doctors had a series of casts on Neil’s legs to straighten them. When the final cast was removed, Neil never walked again.

Neil was not accepted in the public school’s kindergarten program in Alabama, so his grandmother enrolled him in the Calvary Christian School’s kindergarten program in Phenix City.  Neil’s grandmother took him to school everyday in a stroller, as he looked more like a 3 year old than a 6 year old.

For grades 1 to 3, Neil was back in public school, but now he was in special needs classes which was helpful for his physical difficulties.  Neil maintained an A+ average from grade school through high school.

Neil’s thirst for knowledge and his quest to be the best he could be was an increasing struggle as his body slowly deteriorated. He is a quadriplegic with full body involvement, which means his head and neck are affected. He has limited use of his left hand and the extension of his arm. He has full use of his right hand and right arm. The muscles in his legs are too weak to support his body weight.  If he tries to stand his entire body shakes and he falls to the ground and is unable to get up on his own. He has problems with visual scanning of both eyes, which makes it difficult to read a paragraph of words.

Knowing Neil’s ambitions and thirst for knowledge, his grandparents helped him go to college. Neil received a scholarship to Chattahoochee Valley Community College. The college was not set up for someone with Neil’s disabilities so his grandfather took him to school everyday and stayed in class with him to help him through the day. Neil graduated from junior college Suma Cum Laude with an Associates degree in Art and a 3.8 GPA. He went on to Troy University, with a major in psychology and maintained straight A’S. Near the end of the first year his grandfather died, and Neil has been unable to continue his education.

Neil has continually searched for a treatment or someone to help him improve his quality of life. He has researched to find something to help his deteriorating body, he started reading everything he could find on stem cells, as that seemed promising for the future. The problem being, how far off is the future?. … For Neil, his grandfather had died, his grandmother now the sole person left to care for Neil is 83 years old and Neil’s body is slowly deteriorating.

Neil’s search led him to an article about a toddler in Florida, Cameron Petersen, who received umbilical cord blood stem cells for optic nerve hypoplasia. From all the information Neil gathered he discovered that this little blind boy could now see and his health had improved as a result of the stem cell treatment. Upon further research, while looking for more information on the most qualified facilities in the world he was lead to Don Margolis of the Repair Stem Cell Institute.  After numerous conversations and with the guidance of Mr. Margolis, Neil also discovered that Carol Petersen, Cameron’s grandmother, was now an advocate of adult stem cells because of the improvements her grandson gained from his treatment.

Neil read information on several web sites about patients’ improvements after receiving umbilical stem cell treatments. He also read that many of these patients were getting together to share information about their treatments with the public at various venues around the country as part of a Stem Cell Awareness program.

Now age 29, Neil contacted Carol and asked her to help him!…. As an advocate, she helps people with their needs. The regenerative capabilities of umbilical cord blood stem cells have given patients with cerebral palsy significant improvements and a better quality of life. Neil desperately wants to be one of these as his time is running out…. Neil passed the first big test earlier this year when he was accepted for treatment, scheduled as follows:

*Admission date: December 28, 2010 *Discharge date: August 28, 2011

*Additional notes: Patient will be traveling with his grandmother. The patient will be staying in the hospital with his grandmother for eight months.  He will receive the first round of six injections in the first month. He will receive physical therapies, 6 days per week for the following 6 months. He will receive the second round of six injections in the eighth month.

Note from Don Margolis:

Now that you’ve read Neil’s story, you know how much he needs our help.  Just weeks away is not a lot of time, but I know we can make a significant change in Neil’s life if we join together to help him.

We can give Neil the chance to live his life in a meaningful way.  We can give Neil the same benefits other cerebral palsy patients have enjoyed from this stem cell treatment.

Neil has done everything right, but his latest fight needs our help.  With his treatment just weeks away, there’s no time to spare to raise the funds he needs now.

So much is riding on the outcome of our efforts,

Please donate what you can.  Together we can do this!  Every donation will help in this important cause!  Neil is counting on us to come through for him!

Thank you for your support.

Please Donate now by clicking this link, which will take you to Stem Cells for Hope, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization:

Click here to donate http://www.stemcellsforhope.org/

Thank you for your generosity.

The parents of a blind Moncton baby are hanging their child’s hopes for sight on an unconventional stem cell treatment available only in China.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Cloey Carrasquillo suffers from Septo Optic Dysplasia, a congenital disease affecting the optic nerve which prevents signals from the eye from reaching the brain.

Metro Moncton residents are rallying to help little Cloey, so far raising about $10,000 of the total of $50,000 it will cost to travel to China and receive the treatment.

“We appreciate everything that’s being done for us,” mom Karine says.

“People are very generous and it’s at times like these where it really shows.”

SOD is a condition in which an under-developed optic nerve fails to relay signals from the eye to the brain.

“She was born with the condition and the nerve never completely grew to its potential,” Karine says.

There is no treatment in Canada, however the parents of SOD children from around the world are turning to stem cell injections at a hospital near Beijing with some striking results.

But it isn’t foolproof. Doctors in China have told the Carrasquillos that Cloey’s chances of regaining sight are about 88 per cent.

That sounds a lot better to mom and dad than what they are used to hearing from doctors.

“We’re very excited,” Karine says.

“As a mom, I can’t know about this and just do nothing.”

The treatments were pioneered by Beike Biotech which for the past decade has worked in concert with universities and hospitals in China to deliver stem cells for treatment of a wide range of medical conditions.

“They know what they’re doing. It’s being followed by media so it’s not something that can be scammed,” Karine says.

As well, Karine has spoken with 20 parents of children who have gone through the treatments and is convinced there is lots of hope for Baby Cloey.

The course of eight intravenous injections over 33 days will cost about $32,000. That doesn’t include travel, food and lodgings for Cloey, mom and dad Nicholas. That’s why good samaritans are helping to raise the necessary funds for the family, which will head to China in the spring.

“So far we’re doing great,” mom says, with about one-fifth of the necessary money raised so far.

A number of fundraising activities are in the works. In the meantime, donations are being collected at any Rogers outlet in Atlantic Canada, where Karine is employed. As well, donations can be dropped off at the Caisse Populaire. Ask for Folio #020181 and Transit #865 00954.

Seven-year-old Leyantha Perumal can’t walk or talk. But listening to Shakira’s famous Waka Waka puts a smile on her face and inspires her to attempt singing the song despite her physical challenges.

Leyantha, from Queensburgh, Durban, was diagnosed with four heart defects when she was 10 days old. She was hospitalised to have corrective surgery and had to undergo three operations to her brain, chest and stomach.As a result of operations to her brain she is unable to walk or talk and has been classified as a cerebral palsy patient.

After hearing about stem-cell treatment in China, Leyantha’s parents, Jane and Leyon, are hoping to raise enough money to make the trip to the East to give their daughter “the gift of life”.

“She just turned seven and when we look at other children, they all run around and do things for themselves. We thought the stem-cell treatment will strengthen her muscles to allow her to walk.”

Stem-cell treatment introduces new cells into damaged tissue to treat disease or injury. It has the ability to renew and can replace diseased and damaged areas in the body.

Jane said Leyantha communicated by making sounds and through facial expressions.

“If you tell her to smile she will smile. She loves music and loves Shakira’s song Waka Waka. Whenever that song comes on she just smiles and moves her mouth and gets excited and it looks like she wants to dance.

“We hope this treatment can help her. There are other people who have done this and it was successful.”

The treatment costs R500000 and the family hope to raise the money through a fundraising cultural show, dinner and dance in the Lenasia South Civic Hall on November 19.

All the proceeds from the show will go towards the cost of the treatment. Tickets are priced at R300 a couple. For more details, call 0114322612 or Jane on 0842595919.

It’s been a long road but the family of a little girl who was born blind have finally set a date for what they hope will be a life-changing operation.

Three-year-old Izabelle Evans has a rare genetic condition which affects her brain and eyes and her family hope it will be improved with pioneering stem cell surgery in China.

They were overwhelmed when in just over one year generous readers of The News donated the £30,000 needed for the operation they hope will give her the gift of sight.

Her mum Hollie McHugh and father James Evans, of Pagham Gardens, Hayling Island, will fly to Shenzhen to start the treatment on November 1.
Mr Evans, 23, said: ‘We’re both very excited but Hollie is very nervous and just wants to get it over and done with.

‘We’ve been waiting for a long time to get this far because we’ve had to have detailed scans and medical reports carried out and sent from the consultant here to China where the doctors there have had to assess them.

‘We’re really, really hoping it will give Izzy some vision. She’s making a lot of progress now she’s at Rachel Madocks school and you can actually have a small conversation with her.

‘She can ask for her toys and when we put her to bed she says “love you”. And she can ask for help if she needs it which is brilliant.

‘Obviously we want the operation to work but we’re not going to work ourselves up by expecting too much. Any improvement will be a huge bonus for Izzy.’

Septo optic dysplasia affects just one in five million babies.

It means Izzy has only a few hundred optic nerves to her brain when she needs millions to be able to see.

Doctors will harvest stem cells from donated umbilical cords and they will be given to Izzy intravenously.

While she is over there she will also be given a complete care package which includes daily acupuncture and physiotherapy.

The family are facing a two-month stay and are relying on the donations to pay for their stay and their flights.

Mr Evans, who is a full-time carer for Izzy along with his 24-year-old girlfriend, said: ‘We’re so grateful for the help everyone has given us. We owe this chance to Izzy.’