Read another article about Batten Disease.

Sacha, a five-year-old girl afflicted with the rare Batten Disease, is to have pioneering stem cell surgery in Shenyang, northern China. The procedure will consist of weekly spinal column injections, each comprised of 10 million stem cells, for the duration of one month.

Taken from umbilical cords with the permission of new mothers, blood stem cells will be injected into Sacha’s spinal column and will move through the blood stream to the brain, where it is hoped they will start to fix the damage caused by Batten Disease.

The illness has left her incapable of walking or talking without assistance and Sacha