Paralyzed Woman Needs To Raise $90,000 For Stem Cell Treatment

After suffering a brain-stem stroke three years ago, 52-year-old Alda Byers is only able to blink her eyes, a condition called “locked-in syndrome.” There is no cure or treatment for the condition. But an American company called Stem Cell Therapy International operating in Mexico has agreed to provide a controversial stem cell treatment for $40,000. But that’s not the only expense involved. Because the patient requires oxygen at all times, she has to travel by private jet to Mexico, adding another $50,000 to the costs. The treatment involves harvesting her own stem cells and then injecting them into her spine. Friends and family are doing their best to raise the necessary funds for the scientifically unproven procedure that her own doctors call a “charlatan’s voodoo.”

By Michele Mandel, “Her Body Is Now Her Prison”, © 2009, The Toronto Sun