Stem Cell Therapy for Maddy
Donation protected
Madelyn VanderWeide, daughter of Shawn and Nicole VanderWeide, was born in July 2014 in Chatham, Ontario. However, she was starved of oxygen at birth and as a result suffers from severe Cerebral Palsy. Madelyn has very limited mobility and cannot walk or crawl on her own. She even needs help to sit up and keep her head from falling and has a feeding tube to eat.
Over the years, Nicole and Shawn have been constantly adapting to the care required for Madelyn and have needed to purchase equipment and other accessories that she needs to live her daily life. These purchases have been expensive and not always covered by other agencies.
There is some good news- Madelyn has a chance to re-gain some of her motor functions and possibly see brain repair, better tone, open speech pathways and other improvements. Nicole and Shawn have been following research into stem-cell therapy. These stem cells are not from fetuses or aborted babies but are obtained from live-birth umbilical cord blood. The treatment has shown improvement for children born with Madelyn’s condition.
One of the leading facilities in North America with respect to stem-cell therapy is the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama. They offer a procedure that infuses umbilical cord blood from a donor into Madelyn’s body. There are five treatments of 30 minutes each over the course of five days. The hope is that these treatments will improve Madelyn’s quality of life. There are many testimonials from parents of children with CP that have shown this procedure has improved their child’s functions and abilities.
Over the years, Nicole and Shawn have been constantly adapting to the care required for Madelyn and have needed to purchase equipment and other accessories that she needs to live her daily life. These purchases have been expensive and not always covered by other agencies.
There is some good news- Madelyn has a chance to re-gain some of her motor functions and possibly see brain repair, better tone, open speech pathways and other improvements. Nicole and Shawn have been following research into stem-cell therapy. These stem cells are not from fetuses or aborted babies but are obtained from live-birth umbilical cord blood. The treatment has shown improvement for children born with Madelyn’s condition.
One of the leading facilities in North America with respect to stem-cell therapy is the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama. They offer a procedure that infuses umbilical cord blood from a donor into Madelyn’s body. There are five treatments of 30 minutes each over the course of five days. The hope is that these treatments will improve Madelyn’s quality of life. There are many testimonials from parents of children with CP that have shown this procedure has improved their child’s functions and abilities.
There are no negative side-effects and no risk of rejection from the procedure. There is a chance that nothing will improve- but also a very real chance that Madelyn will gain back some function and her quality of life will change for the better. It is this hope that drives Nicole and Shawn to undergo this procedure for Maddy and will be travelling to Panama on February 24 and stay until March 3, 2019. They will be there only for the procedure- no extra frills or excursions.
I am Nicole's brother and am asking anyone that would like to help to support this cause. I believe that if there is a chance for Madelyn to improve her quality of life, it should be sought out. Nicole and Shawn have raised a lot of money so far for this, but they are still $7,500 short. I know that we can reach this goal and contribute to something that very well may change the lives of a young girl and her family.
The Stem Cell Institute
I am Nicole's brother and am asking anyone that would like to help to support this cause. I believe that if there is a chance for Madelyn to improve her quality of life, it should be sought out. Nicole and Shawn have raised a lot of money so far for this, but they are still $7,500 short. I know that we can reach this goal and contribute to something that very well may change the lives of a young girl and her family.
The Stem Cell Institute
Organizer and beneficiary
Joshua Flikweert
Organizer
Chatham, ON
Shawn VanderWeide
Beneficiary
