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Mandy Allison and her daughter, Summer, live with Mandy's mom and dad in King George County.
Mandy Allison holds her daughter, Summer Grace, as she walks
Beth Allison and daughter Mandy Allison are working to raise $50,000 |
BY CATHY DYSON
Beth Allison's life changed when a doctor said her granddaughter was in total darkness.
"It just ripped my heart out," she said.
The King George County nurse suspected something was wrong with Summer Grace soon after she was born a year ago.
Beth's daughter, Mandy, is Summer's mother. Mandy is 19, and she and Summer live in Presidential Lakes subdivision with her parents, Beth and Ricky, and her brother, Ricky Jr.
Soon after little Summer came home from the hospital, relatives started cooing at the brown-eyed baby.
Summer never looked at them. She just stared into space, or her eyes darted back and forth as if she were tracking what was going on in the room.
The family suspected a vision problem, but was devastated to learn that Summer is blind.
"It was like we were on top of the world one minute, and then the rug was pulled out from under us the next," Beth said.
Summer was 4 months old when she was diagnosed with septo-optic dysplasia, a rare disorder in which the optic nerve doesn't develop. The condition also can affect the pituitary gland, muscles, hormones and intestines, although Summer doesn't have any of those problems.
Doctors told the Allisons that nothing could be done to correct the baby's vision.
Beth, a registered nurse for five years, wouldn't accept that.
She started researching and found out about an American company in China that does controversial stem cell therapy.
RAISING HOPE, AND MONEY
Since 2005, Beike Biotechnology has given 3,700 patients injections or intravenous doses of stem cells from umbilical-cord blood. According to statistics from the company, almost 90 percent of patients have noted some improvement.
Beth gets excited talking about the company's Web site, which is filled with success stories about children with the same conditions as Summer.
She mentions an 8-year-old girl named Rylee who has been able to read 36-point type and make out images since her trip in China. Another child was able to distinguish colors. A boy named Brayden tracked the doctor's penlight during an eye exam for the first time.
These stories give Beth hope. They also come with a price, and that part dampens the grandmother's enthusiasm.
She needs to raise $50,000 for her, Mandy and Summer to go to China for 45 days. The Allisons want Summer to get at least eight treatments, which work in a triage fashion, Beth explained.
"They go to the most-needed area--her optic nerve--and start to rebuild tissue," she said.
Beth has been fundraising for four months and has $10,000. She knows how tough times are for people; it's the same in her own household.
Her husband, Ricky, is a subcontractor who lays hardwood floors. Jobs were so scarce in January that he worked only one day.
DOUBTS AND RESULTS
Beth also recognizes that some people don't approve of the treatment. Some American doctors call the transplants "modern-day snake oil" and consider the results coincidental. Beth has asked Summer's eye doctor about stem cell transplants and said he won't even look at the Web site.
Beike hasn't submitted to clinical trials or done any of the typical animal testing, according to an August 2008 story in China Bio Today. The chairman of the company is a medical doctor, and he said he doesn't know the mechanism behind the improvements, according to a story on the National Public Radio Web site.
He pointed to the results, which sound almost miraculous at times, in patients diagnosed with brain injuries, muscular diseases, blindness, cerebral palsy and spina bifida.
Beth also focuses on the results.
"I know in my heart that this will work, just like I knew in my heart that something was wrong with Summer," she said.
She admits she's obsessed with getting Summer to China.
"When she's not working, that's all she does, to try to get the word out there about Summer," said Jeannie Allison, Beth's best friend. "Every waking moment is about that child. If it were my grandchild, I'd do the same thing."
Beth plans to book a date for treatment as soon as she raises most of the money. She and Mandy are nervous about being away from home for a month and a half, but they're not scared of the medical treatment.
They believe they owe little Summer the chance.
"If it doesn't work, we'll know that we did everything we could," Beth said. "I want to give her every opportunity to enrich her life."
Cathy Dyson: 540/374-5425
Email: cdyson@freelancestar.com
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Donations can be sent to Sight for Summer Grace, Union Bank & Trust, Box 81, King George, Va. 22485.
The Allison family has planned a For directions and tickets, call 540/ |
