| is the moment four-year-old Reece Wilks | | | | Treating Multiple Sclerosis |
| dreamed of. His mother Jan arrived to walk him | | | | When Jan Wilks was diagnosed with MS in 2000, |
| home from school for the first time since | | | | her condition had no treatment or cure and |
| pioneering treatment meant she could leave her | | | | doctors said it would eventually cripple and then kill |
| wheelchair at home. | | | | her. Her husband, Paul Wilks, 40, spent hours on |
| The mother-of-two, Jan Wilks was once crippled | | | | the internet searching for alternative treatments |
| by multiple sclerosis. Thanks to a revolutionary | | | | and discovered stem cell therapy was being used |
| stem cell treatment she is now able to walk | | | | elsewhere in the world to help slow the progress |
| Reece to his classroom door. This summer Mrs | | | | of diseases such as Parkinson's, cancer and MS. |
| Wilks, of Stockbridge Lane, Page Moss, had a | | | | But the expensive procedure was unfortunately |
| controversial medical procedure in a private clinic in | | | | not yet available in the UK. |
| a desperate attempt to keep her MS at bay. | | | | The Wilks family were preparing to sell their home |
| Within hours she was on her feet and free from | | | | to pay for treatment in Holland when colleagues |
| pain. Three months on, Mrs Wilks's health is going | | | | at the Asda store in Huyton stepped in to help, |
| from strength to strength and she can do the | | | | raising more than £13,000. |
| school trip to Beechwood Primary School with | | | | Stem Cells - A Controversial Therapy |
| Reece unaided. | | | | Stem cells are the building blocks for every tissue |
| The benefits | | | | and organ in the body. They have the ability to |
| Of the treatment Mrs Wilks, 45, said: "I am feeling | | | | grow outside the body and can be transplanted to |
| great. Everything about my health seems to have | | | | produce tissue regrowth in patients with tissue |
| improved so much. It is the small things that | | | | degenerating diseases. |
| mean so much to me - the little victories. My legs | | | | The cells can be taken from a variety of sources, |
| aren't perfect but I can stand for longer and hang | | | | including unborn foetuses - but this makes stem |
| out my own washing on the line. I am not in pain, | | | | cell therapy controversial because it raises medical |
| I feel stronger and I am not sleeping all the time. I | | | | ethics issues. Stem cells used to treat Jan came |
| can play games with the children. I have more | | | | from umbilical cords which would have otherwise |
| patience and energy. Sometimes I catch myself | | | | been destroyed. Her treatment - which took just |
| walking upstairs and can't believe the treatment | | | | a few hours - saw cells put into her body via a |
| has worked so well. The kids are made up with | | | | drip, and an injection into the spine to repair |
| me. I feel normal again. I am back at work and | | | | damage. |
| everyone says how well I look because all the | | | | This treatment has increased the quality of |
| pain in my face has gone." One of the highlights of | | | | Jan’s life dramatically, not only is she able |
| the summer was a family holiday in Cornwall | | | | to walk unaided but has gone back to work and |
| where Mrs Wilks was able to build sandcastles | | | | has been able to spend more quality time with |
| with her sons Reece and Daniel, 12, sit on the | | | | her family thereby increasing the quality of their |
| beach and go out for the evening with husband | | | | lives as well. |
| Paul. | | | | |