Recently, Emily’s Path made a contribution to the family of William Weigel.  William and his twin sister were born in February, 2008.  They were healthy, active infants.  When he was just 10 months old, Will’s aunt found him in his crib, not breathing.  It was the morning after Christmas.  Will had gotten into a family member’s blood pressure medication.  Quick actions by his mom and aunt saved Will’s life, but he suffered permanent brain damage.

Will can no longer talk, walk, crawl, roll, or reach, although (as you can see from his picture) he still laughs and smiles!   Almost three years old, Will has therapy nearly every day, and has made tremendous progress.  While the therapy is helping, the Weigels are hopeful that stem cell therapy at a clinic in Germany may reverse Will’s brain loss.

“It gives him a chance, in a sense, to get new brain cells,” his father, Mike Weigel said.  Stem cells are cells that have not gone through the process of cell differentiation and therefore have the potential to give rise to many different kinds of specialized cells.  Will has now had two stem cell transplants, the most recent just 2 weeks ago in Germany.  Stem cells were extracted from Will’s bone marrow and injected into his nervous system in the hope that they “will regenerate and replicate and turn into functioning brain cells,” said Will’s pediatric neurologist, Dr. Roshan Raja.

Will travels to Germany again in May, 2011 for a third round of treatment, this time having his stem cells injected directly into the brain. Insurance does not cover the cost of these procedures.

Please join Emily’s Path in helping the Weigel family pay for Will’s treatment.  You may contact the family directly through Will’s Facebook page, or make your donation through Emily’s Path.  Please indicate that your donation is for William, and 100% of your gift will be given to the Weigel family.

If you give to Will through Emily’s Path, your donation is tax deductible!

We are humbly grateful for your ongoing support.