Cord Blood Used To Treat 12-Year-Old With Hurler

Maddy Wigglesworth was diagnosed with the deadly Hurler’s disease when she was just a toddler. Her mother did not expect the young child to live to see her 10th birthday but today, she is 12-years-old and living a normal life, thanks to a cord blood transplant.

Hurler’s Syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes a buildup of sulfates in the body, resulting in organ damage and death. It appears in childhood, and affects 1 in 100 000 people worldwide. Progressive mental deterioration occurs, and most patients do not live past the age of 10.

Fortunately, Maddy’s mother Kym discovered the cord blood bank at Duke University’s Medical Centre, who was able to provide the family with a sample to treat Maddy’s disease. Currently, the centre is the only cord blood bank in North Carolina, but hospitals throughout the state are able to send their collections there for storage.

Duke Researcher, Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, says that cord blood transplants present a much easier way to treat serious genetic and blood disease. Bone marrow transplants can often be painful for the donor and the recipient, so cord blood is a more appropriate option for younger patients.

Kym is thankful that a mother, somewhere out there, decided to bank her child’s cord blood, so that Maddy would be able to have the chance to live a healthy life. She has become an advocate for cord blood banking, and hopes more mothers out there will consider the option.

https://wake.mync.com/site/Wake/news/story/51317/umbilical-cord-blood-donations-saves-lives/