Christien's Stem Cell Fundraiser
Donation protected
Our Teenage Son, Christien, our first born was about to turn 18yrs old. He had just got his Drivers Licence & purchased his 1st car a month or so earlier when he was in a motorbike accident and was left with a very Severe Diffuse Axonal Brain Injury. This means his brain suffered widespread damage & shearing. 90% of people with this injury remain 'Brain Dead' and the 10% who survive are left disabled. He spent 4 months in hospital fighting to stay alive.
Thanks to God, Prayers were answered & Chrisitens brain slowly started to wake up. He is a survivor !!!
However he had to start learning how to do simple tasks again like the ones we take for granted: Remembering who his family was, how to swallow to eat, to speak, to brush his teeth, how to go to the toilet, Showering, dressing and then the challenge of learning to walk again. This was through a lot of repitition, hard work & picture signs on the walls in every room of our home. It was like raising him all over again. After nearly 2 years of daily rehab he is still severely impared Cognitively & has less than 50% Vision in both eyes. His balance is affected, has problem solving difficulties and has had personality changes. His brain processes information very slowly now. He require's 24/7 supervision.
Christien can now do: his shoe laces, put on his socks & dress himself. All of his personal hygiene, he can ride his pushbike again, and a bit of the scooter. He walks un-aided, smiles & tries to make funny jokes. He can have conversations (although very odd at times) & is once again mowing the Lawn.... yes u read correct, loves mowing the lawn again - he just Loves to keep busy.
We have since been told although his recovery has been remarkable he will never hold a drivers licence or be able to go to work again. But even though they may not see a way, God still has a way - It may look impossible but God can do the impossible.
We have found a Stem Cell Treatment Centre in the USA which has been used on patients with 'Traumatic Brain Injury' but it comes at a very steep cost. Many years ago we all heard about Christopher Reeve (Superman) talk about the discovery of stem cell therapy and of recent years 'Michael J. Fox' . Well it is now available to Patients to help with their ongoing research & Data collecting.
The Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Centre based in L.A. have advised us that they think Christien would make a great candidate for there Research and they have accepted Him as a candidate. With 80-85% of patients having some type of positive results after treatment, most are in the Cognitive area of the Brain. Improvements can happen anytime from weeks to several months. The Stem cells seek out damaged area's within the body and go to work repairing. So any improvement is different for each patient.
But to give Christien this new opportunty we need Your help and your ongoing prayers.
We've been told God helps those who find help for themselves..... so we'd like to Fly Christien to LA sometime early in 2016. It'll be a huge challenge for him, the flight alone at 17 -24 hours and the atmospheric pressure on his brain; but we can do this !!!!
Our Family will be forever grateful to you and one day Christien hopefully will have the understanding to realise that so many people were part of his recovery and He'll go forward in life. Hoping one day he'll live independently & tell others of HIS STORY and give hope to those who are suffering in some way in Life.
God Bless You All. Xx
Tony and Teresa Festa,
Thanks to God, Prayers were answered & Chrisitens brain slowly started to wake up. He is a survivor !!!
However he had to start learning how to do simple tasks again like the ones we take for granted: Remembering who his family was, how to swallow to eat, to speak, to brush his teeth, how to go to the toilet, Showering, dressing and then the challenge of learning to walk again. This was through a lot of repitition, hard work & picture signs on the walls in every room of our home. It was like raising him all over again. After nearly 2 years of daily rehab he is still severely impared Cognitively & has less than 50% Vision in both eyes. His balance is affected, has problem solving difficulties and has had personality changes. His brain processes information very slowly now. He require's 24/7 supervision.
Christien can now do: his shoe laces, put on his socks & dress himself. All of his personal hygiene, he can ride his pushbike again, and a bit of the scooter. He walks un-aided, smiles & tries to make funny jokes. He can have conversations (although very odd at times) & is once again mowing the Lawn.... yes u read correct, loves mowing the lawn again - he just Loves to keep busy.
We have since been told although his recovery has been remarkable he will never hold a drivers licence or be able to go to work again. But even though they may not see a way, God still has a way - It may look impossible but God can do the impossible.
We have found a Stem Cell Treatment Centre in the USA which has been used on patients with 'Traumatic Brain Injury' but it comes at a very steep cost. Many years ago we all heard about Christopher Reeve (Superman) talk about the discovery of stem cell therapy and of recent years 'Michael J. Fox' . Well it is now available to Patients to help with their ongoing research & Data collecting.
The Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Centre based in L.A. have advised us that they think Christien would make a great candidate for there Research and they have accepted Him as a candidate. With 80-85% of patients having some type of positive results after treatment, most are in the Cognitive area of the Brain. Improvements can happen anytime from weeks to several months. The Stem cells seek out damaged area's within the body and go to work repairing. So any improvement is different for each patient.
But to give Christien this new opportunty we need Your help and your ongoing prayers.
We've been told God helps those who find help for themselves..... so we'd like to Fly Christien to LA sometime early in 2016. It'll be a huge challenge for him, the flight alone at 17 -24 hours and the atmospheric pressure on his brain; but we can do this !!!!
Our Family will be forever grateful to you and one day Christien hopefully will have the understanding to realise that so many people were part of his recovery and He'll go forward in life. Hoping one day he'll live independently & tell others of HIS STORY and give hope to those who are suffering in some way in Life.
God Bless You All. Xx
Tony and Teresa Festa,
Organizer
Teresa Festa
Organizer
Elimbah QLD
