Izabelle Evans, only four years of age, was born blind but in a medical miracle has been given sight. After a stem cell treatment in China she can see. Her parents James Evans and Hollie McHugh are “over the moon” that their daughter can finally see them. As of now she can see only 3ft away. The treatment that cost the family £50,000.
According to mother Hollie, “Because she hasn’t used her eyes before we have to remind her to use them… She went back to school and they have seen a difference too. She picks things up and holds them close to her face… A couple of days after we got back I put the Christmas tree up and she reached out to grab for the lights. Last year she wasn’t even aware we had a Christmas tree. It’s just incredible. I can’t wait for her to open her presents and experience it all for herself.” She found that Izabelle’s speech has also improved and so has her walking.
Izabelle was born with septo-optic dysplasia – a condition that affects five in one million babies. This meant that she had only a few hundred optic nerves sending information to her brain. A person needs millions to be able to see. The stem cell therapy involved injecting the spinal canal with cells taken from umbilical cords of healthy babies. The cells are then used to rebuild optic nerves. She had to stay at a hospital in the Chinese city of Tsingtao for a month.
According to Professor Chris Mason, of the UK Stem Cell Foundation, the treatments were still experimental and it would be at least 12 years before approved therapies would be available. He added, “However it does promise to give us a fantastic new tool to cure many diseases.”
Izabelle’s father James said, “We’re going to wait six months, because the stem cells continue to work for six months if she stays healthy… We’re going to keep an eye on her, see how her vision is, and then decide if we’ll go back to China to see if we can improve even more.”
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