Help Lela Get Her Childhood Back

Aim

To fund essential stem cell treatment and related therapies for our 4 year old little girl Gabriella (Lela).

Our beautiful little girl needs your help...

I began to notice something wasn't quite right when she was an infant. Her limited eye contact seemed to get less and less with each passing month. She was hospitalised at 13 months with severe gut issues, but the doctors could not tell us what the exact problem was. By age two, her limited speech all but disappeared and eventually we lost eye contact with her as well.  This was the final straw. She no longer responded to her name and seemed to be in an ever-increasing vegetative state.

Hospitalised with no answers from doctors

Could she even hear me anymore? Through many tears I began to search for answers where doctors had none. Eventually I realised that she had 9 out of the 10 classic traits of Autism; including being up all night, clawing at the walls with her eyes rolling back into head. It made me so sad to realise she leaned on furniture to try to comfort her tummy. Her brain was, and still is, "on fire" and that's why she can't speak and finds it so hard to learn. 

Our Quest for Answers:

Since that day, I have been searching for answers and tried numerous interventions, some of which have had limited success; including diet, over 30 biomedical supplements per day and various speech therapies. I have regained some eye contact with her and she is trying her best to learn how to jump, speak and potty train. These basic things are akin to climbing a mountain for her each day, yet she still tries to do it and even manages to give me a smile sometimes. 

In a world of her own...

Then I see the tears in her eyes because it's so hard for her. At 4 and a half years old, she cannot speak and express her needs. Extra frustration comes from tiny sounds in the house which can seem like a loud bang in her mind. Even the wrong sort of Christmas lights can seem like sensory overload to her, causing her to cover her ears and eyes to block out the overwhelming sound and light. If that wasn’t enough, her immune system is broken, even a simple trip to school is hazardous on a normal day, let alone in the middle of a pandemic. 

Hope for a Better Life:

What Gabriella ultimately needs is Stem Cell Treatment to take down the inflammation in her brain to give her a shot at healing and learning like a normal child. She likely needs multiple rounds of this treatment, but it is expensive and only available at specialist hospitals around the world. So I am raising funds for treatment, travel and accommodation.  

Any excess funds raised will go toward related follow-up therapies.  I know it is a rough time to ask people for money, but we have literally no choice but to help her.  And to do that, we need your help.

 My Little Super Hero

This project successfully funded on 7th March 2021