Dear Friends and PS 10 community,

We are reaching out with an update on Frank Riley, better known as Mr. France who is a beloved para at PS 10.

As many of you know, Mr. France was involved in a horrific car accident about a year ago. He suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury that required spine surgery and extensive rehabilitation therapy. Mr. France has stayed strong and fought hard throughout his recovery. He gives credit to the love and support he received from his family, friends and the PS 10 community during his 7-month hospitalization. Despite many months of therapy, Mr. France continues to suffer from chronic back pain and his legs remain paralyzed.
Doctors have said that he is unlikely to walk again. Despite that diagnosis, he remains hopeful that someday he will walk inside a classroom again, surrounded by students. He misses our children and the PS 10 community very much. The thought of rejoining our school community drives him to keep moving forward.

Around March of this year, a physical therapist told him about stem cell therapy, which sparked a new hope in him. He began doing research on the subject that led him to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic was preparing to conduct a phase II clinical trial on stem cell therapy for the treatment of paralysis due to traumatic spinal cord injuries. Mr. France learned that was a perfect
candidate so long as the trial could begin within one year of the date of his injury. The trial was scheduled to begin in June but was delayed due to the pandemic. Because of this, Mr. France could no longer enroll in the study.

As you can imagine, this left Mr. France devastated. In addition to this, his back pain continued to worsen as a result of halting physical therapy due to the covid outbreak. The pain has made it difficult for him to get through everyday activities and it has been a struggle to find a lasting relief.

But, Mr. France is not one to give up. In his search to find a solution, he discovered stem cell therapy for the treatment of spinal cord injuries at The Stem Cell Institute. A number of published papers and case studies support the feasibility of treating spinal cord injury with human umbilical cord tissue-derived stem cells and bone marrow –derived stem cells. Although, stem cell therapy is considered “new frontier” with regards to spinal cord injury. There have been a number of published improvements with stem cell therapy and it has enormous potential.
Mr. France has been in contact with The Stem Cell Institute and received confirmation that he is a candidate for stem cell therapy at the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama. He is extremely hopeful and excited to receive this therapy but needs some help. The cost of this treatment is $27, 485 and it will includes the following:

 Treatment-related medical services and facilities
 Treatment length 2 weeks
 120 million expanded allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (via 6 IV administrations)
 80 million expanded allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (via 4 spinal administration)
 Physical therapy sessions
 Treatment-related laboratory services
 Complimentary 13 night stay at Hilton Panama with daily breakfast
 Complimentary VIP airport gate arrival service (for 2 adults)
 Complimentary Airport and treatment-related transportation service (for 2 adults)
 For more information on the Stem Cell Institute, please visit Spinal Cord Injury

We want to help Mr. France receive this treatment by asking our community to make a contribution. We understand that this is a tough time for all of us. But, please consider making a donation because even a small amount can make a difference. 

Thank you for your consideration and support. Mr. France is forever grateful for all of the help that this community has already provided and continues to provide.

GoFund Me requires that I include the following information:
1. I am Lorena Casey, mom to Sean Casey. Sean had the pleasure of having Mr. France as a para in the 2018-2019 school year in first grade. Mr. France made a lasting impact on Sean's life. 
2. We're from Brooklyn, NY

Lorena