Family on $80,000 stem cell mission

JOSEPH JOHNSON

LOVING ARMS: Liam, 2, left, the adopted son of Ross and Bernadette Martin, and the Martins' daughter, Lucy, with her son Oscar, 4. It is hoped that money can be raised for the disabled toddlers to be treated in Mexico.

A Christchurch family hopes to raise nearly $80,000 for experimental stem-cell transplants in Mexico for their severely disabled children.

Five years ago, Ross and Bernadette Martin were looking forward to retirement in a new house and plenty of overseas travel.

They now face the possibility of selling their home to fund a trip to Mexico to have stem cells injected into their grandson and newly adopted son.

Grandson Oscar, 4, suffers from cerebral palsy, epilepsy and global development delay.

Two-year-old Liam, for whom the couple have permanent guardianship from Child, Youth and Family, has septo-optic dysplasia. He is virtually blind and unable to produce sufficient growth hormones, meaning he is the size of a 10-month-old baby.

In February this year, the family took the boys to the United States for stem-cell treatment just across the border in Mexico. People gave generously to their fundraising efforts, but they had to use their family savings, and Ross Martin sold his car to fund the $100,000 trip.

They are booked for follow-up treatment in November, and estimate the cost at between $70,000 and $80,000 because of the better exchange rate.

"This time we decided to do something a bit bigger and more significant. It takes more organising, but hopefully we'll get the money faster and easier," Ross Martin said.

Daughter Claire organised a Trade Me auction by ringing businesses in the Yellow Pages and asking for donated goods.

She said the response had been amazing. Hundreds of items, ranging from paintings to toastie-makers, guided walks and weekends away, went up for auction yesterday and will finish in a week.

"If we can't raise the money we'll look at selling our house because we think they have made such progress so far," Ross Martin said. "It's the boys' quality of life that we are really trying to improve, and we can't put a value on that."

Before the therapy, Liam had had monthly stays in hospital, being drip-fed because of low blood-sugar levels.

The Martins said Liam had been back just once since having stem cells injected and had developed some vision, which allowed him to perceive light.

Oscar was more responsive and able to walk and turn by himself with a walker. He had also developed some speech.

The Martins and Oscar's mother, Lucy, said the American doctors had never promised them anything and there was a chance the boys would have improved anyway. But it was "more than likely" the benefits came from the stem cells.

Each vial of stem cells taken from donated umbilical cord blood costs US$5000 (NZ$7075) and is injected into the brain through a catheter inserted through the groin.

"There's virtually no risk in doing it, but the risk in not doing it is waking up at 65 and wondering if you had tried, would it have made a difference?" Bernadette Martin said.

Anyone wanting to donate can go to www.oscarslifefund.co.nz.

- © Fairfax NZ News