Pearl City, Ill. —

It has been an “amazing” few weeks for Dalton Rogers-Ford, 4, following a stem cell treatment in September. This young child, who suffers from cerebral palsy, traveled to Europe with his mother, Nikki Rogers, and both of his grandmothers. Life has been a journey for this family. Watching Dalton in action is the payoff.

“Dalton is amazing,” Nikki said. “He keeps improving more and more every day — the journey was worth it and I will do it again when I think the time is right.”

Dalton has cerebral palsy, and each day is a struggle for him. His smile is big, and his mother melts with love every time she looks at her young son. Nikki has been devoted to her son’s needs since he was first diagnosed.

Life began too early for this young boy. He was born nine weeks premature on April 6, 2006. Nikki said her pregnancy was normal, but after birth, Dalton suffered a grade-one brain bleed. At the age of 6 months, his mother began to notice he wasn’t doing what a baby should be doing. At the age of 18 months, he was diagnosed with Periventricular (PVL), a form of cerebral palsy. Essentially, he is trapped inside his own body.

Nikki is her own advocate for her young son. She researched the stem cell treatment, and found out it would cost more than $10,000. Friends and family came to the rescue. A fundraiser was held in August. The family flew to Europe on Sept. 4. It took three days for the stem cell treatment procedure. There were no guarantees, but Nikki was ready to take the gamble, and now it’s beginning to pay off.
 

“I have never questioned myself and could never imagine it could have turned out this way — I told myself I would take anything I could get with his improvements,” Nikki said. “He’s now sitting through circle time, library and music class at school.

“He’s also making a ton more vocal sounds, using his right arm more,” she added.

Dalton is in his second year at preschool at Pearl City Elementary School. Prior to this year, Dalton never participated in class. He didn’t like the noise of the other children. His teacher, Judy Robinson, said this year, since the stem cell treatment, Dalton is in the center of activity. She said he wants to be in the classroom, and wants to be with the other kids.

“Dalton has made great strides,” Robinson said. “He is beginning to communicate and can now form a short sentence.

“Since he has been back, he now says hi to the staff and the only time he gets agitated is when another child cries — he’s very empathetic,” she added.

Nikki said she is pleased with Dalton’s improvements. She said the changes may seem small to people who don’t know Dalton, but to her, his teachers and family, the changes “are huge.” Nikki said she has no doubts that she did the right thing for her son. The doctors could not give her an exact progression for improvements. She takes it day by day and is already planning for a future trip in 2012.

Dalton is now standing with assistance and taking more steps on his own. A lefty, he is beginning to use his right hand and when asked, “Where’s Dalton,” he uses his left hand to touch his chest.

His aide in the classroom, Karen Krogull, sums up Dalton’s improvements this way, “It’s exciting to see the results in Dalton — I find it an honor and a privilege to work with him each day.”

 

A blind British pensioner who flew to China for pioneering treatment has got her eyesight back - and has arrived hometo see her great grandson for the first time this coming Christmas.

 

Dorothy Leach, 76 from Hardwicke, can make out faces, shapes and colours for the first time in more than a year after receiving stem-cell treatment in China in September.

 

Dorothy says she can now see shapes and light since the stem cell treatment in China

'When I got back to Heathrow Airport last Wednesday I could see such a lot. It was unbelievable,' said Dorothy.

'The other day I saw a crow on the fence in my garden and had to check with people that I could actually see it but I did see it. It is amazing.

'The doctors said it could take another six months to a year before my sight gets as good as it will be, but it is much better already. It was definitely worth it.'

 

Dorothy's plight began when she woke up one morning in February last year to discover she had gone blind.

She was diagnosed with giant cell arteritis, an inflammatory disease of blood vessels. Doctors in the UK said they could not restore her sight, but the Chinese hospital said it offered pioneering stem cell treatment that could restore her vision.

Stem cells are the very early cells that can develop into almost all other types of cell and tissue.

Dorothy went through a course of daily wave therapy and acupuncture, with weekly stem cell injections, for 43 days before arriving back home to her husband Percival in Springfield, Hardwicke.

The mother-of-four, grandmother-of-seven and great-grandmother of two, said: 'I really looking forward to being able to see Chris.

'As soon as his parents can get here to visit I am hoping to see him. They live on the army camp so it might be a little while, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.'

 

Well-wishers had organized parachute jumps, bingo evenings and fun days to raise the money to send Dorothy on her trip.

Dorothy added: 'I am so pleased that everyone helped to raise this money. It is so wonderful that everybody did it for me. I really couldn't have done it without them.' 

Her daughter Vicky, who kept a blog on the experience, said she and her mother went to Qingdao Hospital where her treatment was overseen by Dr Tony Lao.

 

'The main treatment was a weekly injection of stem cell fluid taken from umbilical cords at a maternity centre in Beijing and flown to Qingdao,' she said.

'Mum had to have two injections of the fluid into her right eye without anesthetic, one of which was very painful. There were also six injections of fluid into her hand.

'Every day she had wave therapy, which involves electrical impulses to stimulate the parts of the brain involved. And she had acupuncture every day with one needle in the top of her head, two in her wrists, two in her knees and two in her ankles.

'The hospital has become known throughout the world for this treatment that it has been performing since 2004. We met other patients there who had flown in from Brazil, Canada and America for it.

 

'Mum has good days and bad days with her sight now. She can see shapes and bright lights and on some days much more than that. One day when we were out there she was able to see the writing on a sign quite clearly.

'The doctor said she should hopefully get steadily better over the next six to 12 months. After a year her sight will probably be as good as it's going to get.'