A British boy is flying to the US to undergo an experimental treatment for cerebral palsy – using stem cells taken from his younger brother.
Jay Shetty, 7, suffered brain damage caused by a collapsed lung when he was born.
The disability means he cannot sit upright, feed himself or walk unaided.
Now his parents Shilpa and Raj hope that he could be the first British child to benefit from the treatment which is not available in the UK.
The new therapy involves being injected with umbilical cord blood taken from his sibling.
Jay Shetty (right), 7, suffered brain damage caused when he was born, but now his parents Shilpa (left) and Raj hope he could be the first British child to benefit from new treatment
Jay was born two weeks prematurely – at 36 weeks – and had suffered a collapsed lung.
The lack of oxygen left him with brain damage – and he has since been diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy.
Hope of reversing Jay’s symptoms seemed forlorn – until she got pregnant and gave birth to her second son, Kairus, two-and-half-years ago – Mrs Shetty said: ‘We were researching stem cell therapies on the internet – and she learnt that researchers in the US were pioneering using blood transfusions of stem cells.
‘We wanted to store Kairus’ cord blood, and thought we can probably use Jay’s own sibling’s umbilical cord blood.’ Kairus’ umbilical cord blood with a company called Cells4Life at the cost of around £2,300.
She got in touch with Duke University, who have carried out pioneering trials of reversing cerebral palsy symptoms.
Now they are paying around £10,000 ($15,000) to take part in the trial conducted at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina.
A study published last year involving 63 children with cerebral palsy, found those who received injections of cord blood saw improvements in their movement a year later.
The researchers believe it is not necessary for the cord blood stem cells to come from the recipient – which means that stem cells taken from a sibling’s cord could have the same effect.
Raj Shetty pictured holding Jay while Shilpa holds his brother Kairus, whose stem cells are a 100 per cent match for his brother
Kairus’s stem cells are a 100 per cent match for his brother.
Mrs Shetty said that she did not fear anything can go wrong – and any improvement would be welcomed.
‘He can’t sit up. If at the age of seven he sits up on his own, it will be a huge step forward.
‘Any percentage of improvement will be great. We are not hoping he is going to walk and run and have a full life, like everybody else.
‘The doctors have said they cannot guarantee any improvement.
‘We just want him to have as full a life as possible. We just want him to sit on his own and feed himself.
‘We don’t expect him to become a doctor or an engineer.
‘We just want him to be independent and not dependent on anybody.’ Jay’s treatment involves receiving a blood transfusion using the stored cord blood, which will contain around 280-300 million stem cells.
Mrs Shetty said: ‘It is hoped that millions of stem cells from his sibllngs cord blood will find their way into Jay’s brain where they will help to regenerate damaged areas.’
Mrs Shetty said the neurologist who treats Jay at St Thomas’s hospital in London is ‘open’ to the idea – while ‘some other doctors say that there’s not enough research on it. They say don’t do it. Everybody has their own view.’
The family, from Wimbledon, travel out on March 11, and return on March 18.
The case is understood to be the first time sibling cord blood has been used for a patient from the UK.
Cord blood stem cells were introduced in therapy in 1988 – and are being suggested as potential treatments for a range of hitherto incurable conditions, although the therapies are in their very early stages.
The family have spent around £100,000 over the past seven years on private treatments for Jay – putting a huge strain on the family’s finances.
Because of the shortage of facilities in the UK, they attending a clinic near Poznan, Poland where Jay gets regular physiotherapy, as well as hydrotherapy and hippotherapy – horse riding.
The family have raised around £26,000 in donations on the website just4children.
https://just4children.org/children-helped2016/help-jay/