Thu, July 24, 2008

Long journey for baby's sight UPDATED: 2008-07-24 01:59:28 MST
Family puts faith in China's stem-cell expertise for son By BILL KAUFMANN, SUN MEDIA

Seeking a treatment for their seven-month-old son they say has been spurned by the local medical community, a Calgary family is heading to China for stem cell surgery they hope will cure their baby's blindness.

Dawn and Richard Bielskis noticed their then-six-week-old son, Jakob, wasn't focusing his blue-eyed gaze and soon discovered he was born blind with a condition known as optic nerve hypoplasia.

"We were just devastated -- we just bawled and bawled," said Dawn.

"I was having a very hard time accepting it."

Dawn said local doctors have told them there's little that can reverse Jakob's blindness and that any stem-cell cure in Canada could be a decade away.

"I was refused care here by doctors ... they won't even listen," she said.

After much research, Dawn said she discovered a treatment at China's Chenyang People's Hospital using umbilical stem cells from live births was successful in partially restoring sight in a number of young patients.

"They went from being completely blind to seeing their mothers' face -- that would be huge for me," said Dawn.

But the couple was faced with a $75,000 tab covering their flight, hospital and accommodation costs for a month in Quingdao, China.

They leave Oct. 4.

So far, they've raised more than $50,000, much of it through the sale of $5 rubber bracelets and donor events.

A final fund-raising event -- a golf tournament and auction at Springbank Links -- will be held Aug. 20.

Rare framed photos of Wayne Gretzky's final days as an NHL player have been donated to the auction by No. 99's family.

Dawn said she's eager to prove local naysayers wrong for others by ensuring a better future for her son.

"I want everyone to know this is happening, this is possible," she said, adding no other Canadian has gone to China for the surgery.

"My boy is a pioneer and doesn't even know he'll change the world."

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/07/24/6249721-sun.html

 

Please note that the treatment cost is under 30K.