(WXYZ) - Ryan and Cathy Kelley are planning a trip to China. The young couple and their two year old daughter Mallory are going to the sea-side town of Qingdao – just a bit north of Shanghai.
This isn’t a sight-seeing vacation. It’s more a trip of determination by two young parents hoping to give their daughter her best shot at health.
You see, little Mallory and her twin sister, Bridget were born 15 weeks premature. Each girl weighed less than two pounds and they both had to overcome a number of health problems before they could come home.
Now their mom describes them as “very happy little girls, they love to smile, they love to laugh.”
But for Mallory, the serious health issues have continued.
Cathy says,”She’s been diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy and we have tried just about everything here.”
So the Kelleys are taking their little girl to China for a series of eight stem cell injections. Six are coming from donated umbilical cord stem cells and then two will be through bone marrow.
Right now, Mallory can’t walk, or talk, or drink from a cup. And occupational and physical therapy are not providing great results.
Cathy told us, “Just to hold her head up would be a tremendous gin for us. She’s two years old but she’s still like a newborn because she’s not holding her head up, she’s not able to hold her sippy cup. She’s still drinking out of a bottle.
Mallory has seen doctors from across the U.S. Most are leery of Chinese health care because of a lack of regulation.
Mallory’s dad, Ryan says, “They keep telling us they’re doing everything they can for her here and it’s just not good enough.”
The Kelleys have done internet research and talked with other Michigan parents who have made the trip. And now they’re ready.
Cathy was vehement when she told us “We’ll go to the ends of the earth for Mallory. She’s our daughter, so we’re going to do what we can to make her better.”
So China doesn’t sound that far away.
Mallory and her mom will be in china for six weeks. Dad will be there part of the time. They know results may not come for weeks or months – but they say they’re willing to wait. And they’ve promised to keep us up to date.
