Mother of five Tonya Morris understands the incredible potential of cord blood stem cells after a stem cell therapy was used to treat her youngest daughter Sparrow. Sparrow was a fun-loving and active toddler before a horrible accident occurred — the 20-month-old fell into a pool of water and almost died.
She was without a pulse for almost 47-minutes. Doctors told Tonya that the prognosis was grim because Sparrow’s brain had been so starved of oxygen for so long. Thanks to the incredible skill of doctors and nurses, Sparrow did survive. However, she was left in a vegetative state, unable to speak or sit up.
Doctors told Tonya that the only way forward was to use a wide range of rehabilitative therapies. They included speech therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. It was a hard road for the family and little Sparrow, but she gradually began to improve over the next few months.
A year after the Sparrow’s accident, the family received some fantastic news — she had been accepted to take part in a stem cell trial at Duke University. The therapy involved the use of a cord blood stem cell treatment to restore some of her brain function.
Cord blood stem cells treat more than 80 different diseases including many types of cancer, blood disorders, metabolic disorders and immune system conditions. Researchers suspect stem cells may be used to treat brain injuries and brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.
According to Tonya, the change in Sparrow was dramatic: “The next day Sparrow was initiating talking to us, which she wasn’t doing [before]. She was talking and wanting to play and smiling all day long.”
Sparrow continued to improve and began to reach developmental milestones at a faster rate. Tonya is amazed at the change in Sparrow and incredibly happy that she made the decision to save Sparrow’s umbilical cord blood. Without the stem cells in Sparrow’s cord blood, she couldn’t have received the treatment. The cord blood stem cells used for this treatment were stored with Cells4Life.
The pace of research could see cord blood stem cells treat many more diseases in the future. As Tonya fully understands — it really does pay to preserve your child’s stem cells.
Source: Cord Blood Stem Cells Treat Acquired Brain Injury
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