Photo: youtube / My Cord Bank
Between life and death
When Patricia and Lou Durante learn that they are expecting a baby, they can hardly believe their luck, but then fate strikes mercilessly.
In a routine blood test, Patricia has a rare form of leukemia. The Canadian and her husband are shocked and baffled at first. The doctors advise her to stop the pregnancy and start chemotherapy immediately. "I wanted to give birth to my child, but at the same time I had to ask myself if there would ever be a mother, " she says torn. But the love for her unborn baby is greater than the fear of the disease.
Patricia decides to deliver her child and start chemotherapy immediately after birth. The doctors give her a 15% chance of survival. But instead of giving up, the pregnant woman rolls over medical books. "In the book, I read something about umbilical cord blood being high in stem cells, stem cells used to cure many diseases, including leukemia, so I knew my baby would save my life!" Blood is taken from the umbilical cord immediately after birth, stored and used for Patricia's treatment - in 2001 a complete world first.
A race against time begins
Although the cancer completely weakens the body of the young woman, she is determined to survive. The doctors start the birth in the 31st week of pregnancy, then a fetus is certainly viable, because Patricia has no more time to lose - her life is on the cutting edge. She gives birth to a healthy girl and for a few seconds she is the happiest mother in the world. But right after delivery, she has to undergo aggressive chemotherapy that will demand everything from her weakened body.
After 20 days of chemotherapy there is little hope left for Patricia. The doctors reach for a last straw and go all out. They destroy the young mother's bone marrow and her immune system, hoping to stem leukemia. They then inject the stem cells from her daughter's umbilical cord blood.
The risky treatment succeeds and Patricia is fully recovered. Even years later, the Durantes family can hardly believe their luck. Patricia's daughter Victoria Angel is now a teenager. Mother and daughter are united by a special bond, the umbilical cord that kept Victoria alive in the womb, ultimately saved her mother's life.
And not only that: the Durantes family made history for me in their case. Today umbilical cord blood is stored in large quantities and has already saved the lives of thousands of cancer patients, who otherwise might have had to wait in vain for a donor.
(Ww2)
