A Pittsburg, Kansas, man paralyzed from the waist down after a 2008 car crash, is trying to raise $16,000 to travel to Germany for stem cell treatments. Friends and family are helping 26-year-old wheelchair-bound Justin Pryor with a benefit dinner. Justin and his father will travel to Köln, Germany’s XCell clinic for the scientifically unproven procedure, which involves extraction of a patient’s own bone marrow stem cells and re-injection into the spinal fluid. Although the XCell center offers anecdotal evidence of some physical improvement with the procedures – e.g., regaining “sensation” in the limbs – it does not claim that anyone treated with stem cells at its clinic has ever regained the ability to walk.
By Brett Dalton, “Local man to receive stem cell therapy”, The Pittsburg (Ks.) Morning Sun, October 24, 2009, © 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc.
An eight-year-old Titusville, Fla., girl suffering from spinal muscular atrophy returned from Qingdao, China, on October 3 after spending 34 days receiving stem cell injections that cost her family and friends $36,000. Spinal muscular atrophy is a neuromuscular disease characterized by degeneration of motor neurons, resulting in progressive wasting away and weakness. Patients often require comprehensive medical care. Sierra Journey Factor’s family said they detected improved neck control and other improvements after the treatment. “I saw her pick her left foot off the bed. It was really amazing,” the girl’s grandmother said. The family plans to take the girl back to China in two years for more stem cell treatment.
By Amanda Stratford, “Titusville girl receives help in China”, October 4, 2009, © Florida Today
A 23-year-old Bellingham, Wash., man suffering from idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, a form of heart failure, hopes to raise $100,000 to travel to the Xcell Center in Düsseldorf, Germany, to receive treatments using stem cells harvested from his own body. Erik Gelhar believes the controversial therapy will stabilize his heart and forestall the need for a heart transplant. The treatments were recommended by his cardiologist, who was unable to figure out why Gelhar contracted the disorder. The procedure is not only unproven, it is not covered by insurance. “This is a young man who has not had a shot at life,” his cardiologist said.” I’m supporting him having a shot at life.”
By Kie Relyea, “Bellingham man tries to raise $100,000 for stem cell therapy in Germany to stabilize his heart”, September 25, 2009, © The Bellingham Herald
A New Zealand family with two children under the age of five suffering from an array of disabling maladies plans to travel to Mexico again to undergo a second round of expensive experimental umbilical cord stem cell treatments. A first round in February cost the family $100,000 — the grandparents’ entire retirement savings. The follow-up treatments will cost $80,000. One of the children, aged 4, suffers from cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and global development delay. The other child, a two-year-old, suffers from septo-optic dysplasia. “The risk in not doing it is waking up at 65 and wondering if you had tried, would it have made a difference,” a grandparent said.
By Rebecca Todd, “Family on $80,000 stem cell mission”, September 22, 2009, © The Press, Fairfax New Zealand Limited
A 55-year-old resident of The Villages, Fla., suffering from cardiomyopathy will be spending $64,000, half raised by friends and neighbors, to travel to the Dominican Republic for stem cell treatments. Her dream is to fix her serious heart problem – her heart is operating at 20% capacity – and see her youngest grandchild start kindergarten. The stem cell procedure by Fla. physician Zannos Grekos involves extraction and re-injection of her own stem cells, an experimental procedure that has not been approved in the United States. “Any time you do any kind of procedure with the heart, you have some kind of risk, and I understand that,” the patient said.
By Theresa Campbell, “Stem cell procedure gives Villages resident hope of seeing granddaughter’s high school graduation”, © 2009 The Villages Daily Sun
