How stem cell therapy is giving a B.C. toddler hope for a normal life
The family of a young B.C. toddler named Noah, who is months away from turning two years old, is trying to raise money for his ongoing care.Daily Hive spoke with Natalia Kubiak, Noah’s mother, about the hand that the young boy has been dealt and the efforts the family is making in taking care of him and providing him with the best life they can.Noah is a triplet, and he was born on June 1, 2024, at 25 weeks of gestation. He and his family live in Coquitlam. Kubiak is a school counsellor, and her husband works in project management and construction.Noah’s siblings, aside from dealing with the aftermath of being born at 25 weeks premature, are “more or less on track” for their age in comparison to Noah, Kubiak said.When Noah was just over a month old, he was rushed to BC Women’s and Children’s Hospital for an emergency surgery.“What we thought would be a single procedure turned into the first of seven surgeries he would need. Doctors discovered a strangulated inguinal hernia. Thankfully, the surgery saved his intestine—but Noah’s struggles were far from over,” the family wrote in a GoFundMe.After his surgery, his lung collapsed. Following that, doctors gave Noah’s family an impossible choice: continue his care or let him go.They chose to keep fighting. Noah soon developed a volvulus, which required four more surgeries.“Noah spent a total of 195 days in the NICU. During that time, his lung collapsed again, depriving him of oxygen,” the GoFundMe states.Due to the lack of oxygen, Noah suffered brain damage, and his family was told that he would never walk or talk and would face severe cognitive challenges. The GoFundMe adds that he has since been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy with a “severe” prognosis.“Noah has already, in some regards, surpassed expectations,” Kubiak told Daily Hive.After he was discharged from NICU, Noah was tube-fed, and doctors told the family that he’d have to have the tube in for years.“However, after a lot of feeding therapy and a lot of patience, he actually learned how to feed, and he had the tube removed in August,” Kubiak shared.Noah went from gagging or vomiting the moment solid food entered his mouth to now being able to eat some foods. Kubiak attributes that to the stem cell therapy that he has received at the hospital at Duke University in North Carolina. Noah received his first stem cell infusion last fall. She told Daily Hive how she made the connection to Duke.“I have found a lot of support in an online community. I don’t know anyone in my immediate social circle who has a child with disabilities.”Through the use of these online communities, Kubiak has met different moms and parents who have children with conditions similar to Noah’s. A mom Kubiak met online told her about options at Duke.“So then I reached out to [Duke] and went through the whole process and found that Noah is eligible.”We asked Kubiak what sort of life, in a best-case scenario, Noah could hope to have.“The neurologist we spoke to initially said that Noah may be cognitively impaired, but it’s too early to tell.”Kubiak also shared a little bit about how the stem cells actually work in Noah’s situation.“They reduce inflammation at the site of injury and the brain. Parents report better motor function, better cognition, better immune response, stuff like that,” Kubiak said.So far, Noah has received around 250 donations towards a $75,000 fundraising goal. The family has received $32,436 at the time of this writing. Each infusion costs $25,000, including travel costs.If you’d like to help support Noah and his family’s journey, you can visit the GoFundMe to donate and learn more about his story. You might also like:- Vancouver mom pleads for help as daughter battles ultra-rare heart condition- Over half of B.C. businesses say crime is worsening and are worried about safety- Why B.C. cannabis sales saw an abrupt and massive drop off last fall
