Last Updated on: 3rd October 2024, 11:50 pm
Cerebral palsy patient Incredible Journey
There are many times at the Better Being Hospital when a Beike patient shares with us a heartwarming story, but few of them can compare to Flynn Rigby’s.
Flynn is a 12 year old boy from Cairns, Australia, who arrived in this world together with his brother Jack in 2002. The twins were born prematurely after only 23 weeks of gestation and their bodies were not fully developed. Sadly, Jack passed away
only a few days after their birth.
As Flynn got older, the doctors did some MRIs on his brain that showed his cerebellum and areas of the brain did not fully develop due to his early arrival, leaving Flynn with developmental delays, motor skill difficulties, and sensory dysfunction issues. Due to this, after 6 years of intensive speach therapy, he could say the letters of the alphabet, but was not able to say one syllable words.
After deciding to never to give up on their son, Flynn’s brave parents did some research on Stem Cell treatments and their effectiveness on children with conditions similar to Flynn’s. They started a foundation and managed to raise money for their first stem cell treatment. Leaving all the naysayers behind, Flynn and his father Frazer flew to the Qingdao Hospital in China in order to start Beike Biotechology’s treatment.
It was December 2011 and Flynn was 9 years old.
Shortly after starting the treatment, during a Skype interview with his mother in Australia, Flynn spoke for the first time in his life when he answered his Mom’s question, “What color is your shirt?” He responded ” ̈yellow, red, blue”. His parents were astounded.
As his father Frazer points out in their website: “Upon returning from China we have seen this improve dramatically, with Flynn saying “Happy home Mummy,” when he arrived home on New Year’s Day, 2012! This has steadily improved and now Flynn is able to say hundreds of words (many 3 and 4 syllable words included) and can communicate his needs verbally with up to 10 words in a sentence!“
Ever since he got his first round of Stem Cells, Flynn has progressed several levels and everybody was amazed, from his teachers and speech therapists, to his siblings which he started interacting with much more than before. He was able to brush his teeth independently for the first time, wish his parents a happy birthday, and tell them that he loves them.
Right now Flynn is undergoing his second round of Beike Biotech stem cell treatment and they have already noticed some improvements in his writing, his swimming, and other motor skills. A part of that, he is also concentrating more during the therapies.
From Beike Biotechnology and the Better Being Hospital, we all wish Flynn much luck with his continued improvements!
If you would like to find out more about Flynn and his magnificent story, please check his website www.developingfoundation.org.au