Improvements stem from cell therapy

Source: Cairns.com.au

Plenty to smile about: Rosanne de Gregorio (left) with Corey and dad Mark are pleased with the results of the stem cell therapy.Picture: CHRIS HYDE

EXPERIMENTAL stem cell therapy in China has allowed a three-year-old Gordonvale toddler with cerebral palsy to improve so much that he has been able to drink out of a cup unassisted for the first time.

Corey de Gregorio's parents Mark and Rosanne have been on crusade to find a cure for their son since he was diagnosed with the incurable condition when he was eight months old.

Corey had six cord blood stem cell treatments, which could potentially help in treating a range of childhood leukemia, cerebral palsy as well as Alzehimer's disease, in a five-week stay in Qingdao last year.

More than six months after his treatments, Mr de Gregorio said the family was amazed at the improvements in his torso and his left arm.

"The usability of his left hand has improved immensely since we've been to China," Mr de Gregorio said.

"He can hold a cup and drink from it with his two hands and because prior to that it was extremely difficult."

Mrs de Gregorio had her doubts before her husband and Corey left for China but she said she wanted Corey to have every possible chance in becoming an independent individual.

"Like any parent, you want to do the best you possibly can with your child and at the end of the day you want to know that you’ve done and that you’ve tried everything," the mother-of-three said.

"Even if that means going offshore and trying something experimental.

"Since then we've stored our youngest daughter Bella's umbilical cord because when Corey was born we didn't realise how valuable his cord blood is."

She said she was "over the moon" Corey was experiencing his developmental milestones.

A group of 10 Cairns women, who are competing in the The Great Wheelbarrow Race, want to raise $10,000 to buy a motorised wheelchair for Corey before he starts pre-school and also to establish a local Cerebral Palsy group.

The women, who will push a wheelbarrow 150km from Mareeba to Chillagoe next month, is running the Wheelie Huge Wheelbarrow Raffle and to buy a $5 ticket call Helen Cook on 0439 878 070.