At age 5, Jamie’s son was diagnosed with Autism. Following a newsletter from Cells4Life about the state of current stem cell research, the family researched ongoing scientific studies and learned that Dr Joanne Kurtzberg and her team at Duke University Children’s Hospital were studying if umbilical cord blood could help children with neuro-developmental conditions.

The family began the process of reaching out to the team at Duke University. After many months of paperwork, they received clearance in October 2017 that their son could receive an infusion of his own cord blood at the hospital under an expanded access protocol.

“There was a long distance to cover between getting the approval and getting the sample safely to the United States, and that’s where Cells4Life came in.

Their team, specifically Tim Norris, coordinated the entire logistical process. First, they sent a sample of the cord blood to the Duke team for testing and cross-matching. Subsequently, they arranged for the frozen cord blood to be shipped straight to Duke via a specialised medical courier, which included getting pre-clearance from US customs to ensure the whole operation was a success.

What came across beautifully was how humane and concerned everyone involved was. The Cells4Life team put in a tremendous amount of effort, even making follow-up calls with the US team at 10pm at night to work around the time difference.

We will always be exceedingly thankful to Cells4Life for doing what they do, and the spirit with which they supported our family in getting our son’s sample safely to the hospital.”

 

 

39, Mum of two beautiful children