Harumi’s Story of Cell Therapy for Cerebral Palsy

"We refused to give up" said Harumi’s parents, Mr. Hasan and Mrs. Dwi Aprilia of Indonesia.

Everything seemed normal during the pregnancy and birth of little Harumi. But a few days after birth, Harumi had her first seizure. Her parents did not know what was wrong. After multiple consultations with medical professionals, Harumi was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at the age of one month old. Her parents were told to accept that their daughter would never fully recover, but they refused to give up and kept looking for treatments that would help Harumi.

At the time that Harumi was born, her parents had donated her umbilical cord to a laboratory that was owned by a friend. This donation was still available, and their friend urged the parents to try cell therapy as a treatment for the cerebral palsy. At the age of three months Harumi received an infusion of cells from her own umbilical cord. This treatment took place at the National Brain Center in Jakarta, Indonesia (RS Pusat Otak Nasional). The cells that the laboratory retrieved from Harumi’s umbilical cord were only enough for one injection, and her parents do not know if she received cord blood cells or cord tissue cells or both. The parents can say that following this treatment Harumi had fewer seizures, and eventually the seizures stopped. Simultaneously, Harumi was receiving physiotherapy to improve her sensory and motor skills.

Five months later, Mrs. Dwi became pregnant with her second child, a baby brother for Harumi. This time, the couple made the decision to contract with the bank Cordlife Indonesia to properly preserve the stem cells from the umbilical cord blood and from the cord tissue lining. With processing and storage in a state of the art laboratory, the tissue cells could be expanded for more than one treatment.

When Harumi was two years old, she received a second stem cell therapy at the hospital RS Cipto Mangunkusumo in Jakarta. This infusion contained Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) from her brother’s cord tissue which had been isolated and cultured in the laboratory of Cordlife Indonesia. Following this treatment, Harumi’s parents observed that her ability to track objects with her eyes improved. Although Harumi still needs supportive therapies, her parents are optimistic that the cell therapies have helped to advance her progress.

Harumi’s parents encourage families of children with Cerebral Palsy not to give up. "No matter how big or small the chance is, every effort has its own fruit." "And maybe, among the efforts, a miracle is waiting to be found," said the couple.