Voices of Anja

Before the clinical trial at Georgia Health Sciences University, 2-year-old Allison Thurman struggled with developmental milestones due to cerebral palsy. Her parents noticed early developmental delays. Then, they agreed to participate in a blinded trial, which started a year and a half ago, involves infusing either cord blood or a placebo, with the conditions revealed only after the second infusion. Following the treatment, it was revealed that she received cord blood, and Allison exhibited significant improvements, particularly in speech, leading to her graduation from speech therapy, offering hope to her parents for further enhancements in her ability to walk and lead a more active, normal life.

Although the survival rate among children with [acute lymphoblastic] leukemia is between 80 percent to 90 percent, Quentin was among a patient population with genetic markers that lowered the survival rate to between 20 to 30 percent. At the time of his diagnosis, she [his mother] was 5 months pregnant with Jory. She gave birth to Jory on Dec. 3, 2007. An obstetrician extracted blood from her umbilical cord and the placenta. The blood was then transported to Celgene to determine whether the siblings were a genetic match. Quentin's system accepted the transplant quickly and he was able to start producing healthy blood cells less than a month after the transplant. He is now 10 years in remission.

A 2.5-year-old boy in Germany, initially healthy, experienced a cardiac arrest, leading to prolonged oxygen deprivation and a persistent vegetative state. Following an infusion of his own cord blood, the child showed remarkable progress over three years. Improvements included motor skills, cognition, and speech.

Maria received a therapy involving mesenchymal stem cells derived from cord tissue. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis that caused her to lose full use of her right arm and hand. Only 8 hours after she completed her treatment she was able to open her hand, which she previously could not move at all, and move her fingers, feeling sensation in each finger.

In November 2017, Sophia experienced a hemorrhagic stroke due to a ruptured Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM). Facing various challenges, including mobility and cognitive issues, she underwent a cord blood treatment in January 2020. As of now, eleven weeks post-transplant, she has shown promising improvements, such as walking without her AFO brace, regaining movement in her left toes and ankle, and demonstrating progress in speech therapy. Our family is optimistic about continued success in the coming months, witnessing positive changes in her mental and physical well-being.

After a stroke, my husband faced right-side paralysis, severe apraxia of speech, seizures, and post-stroke pain. Desperate for solutions, we explored cord blood transplants based on Stanford and Duke studies. Days after starting the process, my husband received cord blood stem cell infusions. Remarkably, he has been seizure-free since the treatment, and his pain started subsiding around four weeks post-treatment. Cord blood transplantation brought us hope, an experience we'll treasure for a lifetime.

Brodie attributes his newfound strength to one source: "Zoey's blood." This profound statement encapsulates the transformative impact of the sibling cord blood treatment he underwent in December 2018 for his left hemiplegia cerebral palsy. Before the groundbreaking therapy, Brodie faced challenges such as irregularities in movements and uneven strength in his left side, a result of a stroke in the womb. However, as one of the pioneering recipients of the sibling cord blood treatment in Australia, Brodie's life took a positive turn. Brodie's parents observed substantial improvements following the sibling cord blood treatment, including increased movement and strength in his left arm, marking a notable enhancement in his daily life.

Kamsiyochukwu and his family are from Nigeria, but they were living in India when he was diagnosed with Sickle Cell Anaemia at the age of two years old in 2013. Kamsiyochukwu’s mother, Blessing Ezenwa, learned from her son’s doctors that a stem cell transplant from a sibling could stop his pain crises and cure his Sickle Cell. She gave birth to a second son in 2018 and stored his cord blood with Cordlife Sciences India. Then in January of 2020, Kamsiyochukwu underwent chemotherapy at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi and next received a transplant of his baby brother’s cord blood stem cells. His mother says, "Since then till now, there is no crisis, no pain, no nothing, he is okay. We are back home in Nigeria.”