The stories of hardship just keep coming……
Earlier this year Jarred and Amy Donlan’s two beautiful twin boys, Benjamin and Joshua were diagnosed with Autism, alongside this, they have a previous diagnosis of a severe Global Developmental Delay.
As Amy and Jarred recall, Ben and Josh ‘came out breathing perfectly and weighing a healthy weight’, “they were everything we had hoped for and were absolutely perfect.”
It was at 1-year old that Ben and Josh changed, they completely stopped intellectually developing. Amy explained, “I sought advice from many medical professionals and over the period of two years, we were always told the same thing, ‘There is nothing I can do to change it so why try?’ We refused to give up on them.”
The boys are now 4.5 years old, however developmentally they are at a 2-year old’s level, they don’t have any comprehension, and still can’t say most single words. To this day the boys are attending speech therapy, occupational therapy and follow the Nemechek protocol from a USA based doctor.
When given the recent news, Amy took to the internet to look for answers, in her determination she came across an American based Stem Cell Treatment company practicing out of Mexico that have wonderful results relating to both Autism and Global Developmental Delay.
The protocol from the treatment uses donated cord blood and is non-invasive, the boys will just be hooked up to an IV. The stem cell therapy works to fix what has gone wrong with their bodies when they have developed, it is also expected to heal the brain. Medical professionals ensure the full benefits of the treatment wouldn’t eventuate for 12 months.
“It’s so cruel when there is something that can help your child and you can’t afford it,
this can change their whole lives.”
As you can imagine, this treatment is very expensive at $15,000 USD per twin, and with the current exchange rate it is just shy of $43,000 AUD.
With their family of five, Amy working as a Beauty Therapist and Jarred working on the family farm, Amy explained, “No matter how much extra I work, we just can’t come up with that kind of money, its way out of our financial limits.”
“It’s so cruel when there is something that can help your child and you can’t afford it, this can change their whole lives.”
Jarred added, “I guess the question I always ask is, is there anything I can do, and If there is then you do it. If there’s not, then we accept it.. but there are options for us.”
The family have created a ‘Go Fund Me’ Page for the boys, hoping to raise money for their treatment costs only.
“Everything we do in life, everything we have is all for our kids at the end of the day, so, we are going to put in everything we can. We are pushing to get it done so we can try and bridge the gap between them and children starting school.”
“My motivation is to try and give my boys the most normal life that we can give them, if there’s anything we can do, we will do it.”
Amy continued, “We appreciate how hard you work for your money, It doesn’t matter how big or small, anything to help us get this treatment for Ben and Josh, is so appreciated and I cannot thank you enough.”
To donate, search ‘Stem Cell Therapy for Ben & Josh’ on Go Fund Me. Let’s help change lives Orange.