On July 4, a six year old girl from Joplin, MO, blind since she was a few months old, received the first of five stem-cell transplants from umbilical cord blood, at a hospital in China. Where once there was nothing, Rylea Barlett now responds to light and can recognize people’s faces. Upon looking at her mother one day she said, “I saw my Mommy. Mommy, you are beautiful.” After the $40,000 treatments her optometrist determined that she now has 20/400 vision. He testifies to this successful treatment:

“Her optic nerves did not work. They would not send light back to the brain. People with optic-nerve hypoplasia never develop vision. This is the first case ever — since the Bible — where someone’s sight has been restored. This is totally uncharted territory. We don’t know what to expect. We don’t know what the end result will be and whether she will have some functional vision. But two months ago she had nothing, and now she can see light. That’s an incredible journey for one small person. It’s a miracle.”

This miracle, brought to you in part by “Adult” Stem Cells. No human embryos were created or destroyed in the making of this miracle.

By the way, the Bartlett’s decision to seek treatment in China was confirmed after talking to a man in Sikeston, MO with a spinal cord injury whose condition was improved after going to the same Chinese program for stem cell treatments. Did I tell you that I LOVE posting these stories?? I do!

Here is a news story about the adorable Rylea prior to her treatments:

Visit Rylea’s website