Source: chealth.canoe.ca

Provided by: QMI
Written by: Eric Yvan Lemay, QMI Agency
May. 4, 2010

MONTREAL ­- Mia Couture suffers from a rare disease that has made her blind since birth. Her parents are willing to do whatever it takes to restore her vision and are planning to travel to China in a few weeks so she can get stem cell treatment.

There's one problem: the 35-day treatment program will cost at least US$29,300. Add travel costs, meals and accommodations, and the total cost could be around US$40,000.

"We know the costs are very high, but we still went ahead with this. It's my child and nothing is going to discourage me," said Cynthia Bradet, Mia's mother.

Her seven-month-old daughter sees almost no light and only winces when something bright shines in her eyes.

When she was 18 days old, Mia was diagnosed with septo-optic dysplasia, a disease that affects one in every 10,000 children. The disease leads to underdeveloped optic nerves, which causes blindness.

Bradet discovered the Chinese treatment while doing research on the Internet. She got in touch with a mother in Louisiana who went to China with her five-year-old son. In the year following his treatment, the boy regained some vision and is now able to see as far as his feet. "The earlier you have the treatment, the better the chance of success," Bradet explained.

She said she spoke to a mother from Trois-Rivieres, Que., who took her child to China for stem cell treatment. Marlene Richer and her son Miguel plan to return to China in the coming months after seeing encouraging results from the boy's initial treatment.

Bradet plans to leave for China on May 31 with her partner and Mia. Her daughter will receive seven stem cell injections.

Bradet said she's a bit worried about Mia undergoing treatment in another country. "Yes, there's some worry, but at the same time, her family doctor recognized there was nothing they can do here and that she could always try the treatment without recommendation," she said.

"Doctors don't want to give an opinion because it's not something we have here. They don't want to give an opinion on something they don't know." The trip to China is a huge expense for the Couture-Bradet family. They've taken out a loan to pay for the treatment but are trying to fundraise to help defray some of the costs.

Fundraising activities have been organized in their hometown of Victoriaville, Que.