ST. THOMAS - Jackson Vandermark is like a lot of kids his age. He loves trucks, eating and being outdoors. The young St. Thomas resident, however, is unique in that he's now one year removed from a brain operation his family had to travel thousands of kilometres to see done.
Almost a year to the day since St. Thomas and Elgin community members sponsored the Vandermark family's trip to Dusseldorf, Germany for a complex, stem cell procedure for their son to help treat his cerebral palsy, the seven-year-old's mother reports he is more articulate and active than ever.
"His speech has definitely improved, adding from just a one-word sentence to two or three sentences put together .... We never used to have to watch what we said around Jackson, we could say whatever we wanted with no fears of him repeating it but he repeats everything now," Jackson's mother, Carrie Pasch, told the Times-Journal in an interview in their St. Thomas home.
"His core strength has definitely strengthened as well... (and), oh God, does he have a memory. Let's say his grandpa was going to pick him up tomorrow and take him to a boat show. Well, we wouldn't tell him right now becuase he would be up at three in the morning getting ready to go."
Last August, Jackson, diagnosed with the brain affliction when he was an infant, travelled with Pasch, his father, Greg Vandermark, and brother, Cooper, 3, overseas for an operation neither offered in Canada nor covered by OHIP.
The process involved two separate surgeries. The first pulled bone marrow from his hip and the resulting stem cells were then implanted near his brain stem with hopes that they would attach, replace and repair damaged cells.
The family raised about $40,000 with about $35,000 going towards paying for the procedure and the rest used for travel expenses.
Pasch recalls the hardest part for Jackson was dealing with the needle doctors used to inject anesthetic.
"I went in (the operating room) while they put him to sleep and the prick scared him, hurt him. So he started to cry and he looked right at me he goes, 'mom, home.' It broke my heart...but he instantly fell asleep so he wasn't laying there for a long time crying and stuff. He said that and his eyes fluttered and he was right out."
But that was far from the only time Pasch says the whole ordeal affected her heart.
After the second procedure, Pasch became alarmed when Jackson was nauseous and constipated for two days following the brain operation.
"When he was sick and vomitting those two days after the procedure, to be honest, I was doubting myself. Like, what have we done...what if this isn't what we were supposed to do? It was one of the scariest times of my life," she said.
"You know Jackson's sick when he doesn't want to eat. So that's how we know when he's really not feeling well."
However, Jackson began improving after those two days and Pasch says his recovery was an immense weight off the entire family's shoulders.
"We had faith that he was going to be fine. So, I mean, you're scared but you can't think the worst is going to happen .... (After those two days,) then we could enjoy our time, as soon as he felt better," she adds.
The trip was extremely exciting for Jackson in more ways than one.
Aside from the major surgery, it was his first time on an airplane.
Pasch says that his affinity for loud motors made the booming plane engine something he thoroughly enjoyed and that he and Cooper were less nervous about the long flight than she was.
The trip also gave the family a chance to reconnect with Jackson's great aunt and uncle and grandparents on his father's side who live in Holland.
Come September, Jackson is going into Grade 2 at John Wise P.S. The young man has a smile that's as wide as it is bright and he doesn't hesitate to show it off. Ask him what his favourite part about school is -- which he refers to as work -- and he'll flash the grin and tell you it's eating.
A year after the fact, Pasch says Jackson is doing great. She says she wants to thank all the people who made the trip possible and let them know that she appreciates the time, effort and money they put in.
She also credits hospital staff at Dusseldorf's XCell-Center for being so adept and the friends she met during her time in Germany for helping make things go as smoothly as they could. One family in particular, she adds, made the second procedure go by much quicker.
"When Jackson was in the (second) procedure, this one family from the states there talked with us about Jackson. It probably would have been one of the longest half an hours of our lives (otherwise)," she said.
A full list of people and groups Pasch wants to thank can be found at www.stthomastimesjournal.com in the online edition of the article.
One year after the family travelled over 6,000 kilometres for the major surgery, Pasch adds it was all worthwhile.
"It definitely was worth it because I have no idea, if we hadn't taken him, if he would have been adding those words together or if his balance would have been better, or his core strength would have been better....We'll knever know but it definitely was worth it because, I mean, we'll try anything for him," she said.
"Words can not explain how thankful we are to everyone."