UK girl seeks treatment in China

 A British couple is hoping revolutionary cerebral palsy treatment in China will help their daughter lead a more normal life.

Kishor Tahiliani and his wife, Priti, want eight-year-old Vaishnavi, also known as Shonia, to have the stem cell treatment.

The treatment is not yet available in the UK, but a hospital in China has made a breakthrough in treating cerebral palsy by injecting stem cells into the spinal cord fluid which then flow directly into the brain.

The treatment at Tiantan Puhua Neurosurgical Hospital in Beijing has already helped 19-year-old Gabor Bocskai from Hungary to walk, sit up, swim, concentrate for longer, see better and speak.

The couple, who live in Bournemouth, Dorset, need to raise £18,000 for two months’ treatment in China.

When Shonia was born, doctors had given up hope and told her parents that, if she lived, she would never walk or talk, but her parents are hopeful and say she can smile, show happiness and respond to them and she is trying to formulate words.

Mr Tahiliani, 34, who works in hotel management, said: “This is the best treatment for her. There are cerebral palsy children who were totally blind and now they can see, that’s in Mexico.

“My wife spoke to an American woman. They were crying on the phone, her child is able to do what a normal child does.

“He used to get fits before, all the epilepsy fits have gone, he was unable to walk and he is walking now.

“There are so many children who have improved. It’s amazing really.”

Until recently there has been no medical treatment for cerebral palsy, which is caused by poor oxygen supply to the brain before, during or immediately after birth.

The treatment in China uses stem cells, taken from the umbilical cords of healthy babies, which develop into new nerve cells and repair some of the brain damage.

Shonia will then need physiotherapy and speech therapy to help her learn how to hold her neck, sit or stand alone and speak.