KY Girl Headed To China For Treatment
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Updated: 6:56 PM Jul 8, 2008
KY Girl Headed To China For Treatment
Hailey Goranflo suffers from Batten Disease, which makes her have seizures and lose control.
Posted: 11:53 AM Jul 8, 2008
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You hear about people coming to the United States all the time for specialized medical treatment, but one Bullitt County mother has taken her five-year-old daughter to China, hoping to save her life.

Hailey Goranflo is heading to China to undergo a series of controversial stem cell implants. It is costly but could dramatically improve her life.

She has Batten Disease; her brother also suffers from the condition which can leave children blind, demented or cause them to suffer from seizures.

Hailey Goranflo will spend seven weeks in China, where she'll undergo a series of stem cell implants that could reverse the progress of her disease.

The use of embryonic stem cells is not available in this country.

Community members banded together to raise the $88,000 necessary for Hailey and her brother to seek treatment in China.

Hailey will be only the fifth child with Batten Disease to undergo this treatment.


Latest Comments

Posted by: Cassie Location: Hazard on Jul 11, 2008 at 12:27 AM

I hope that everything works for this family, I fill your pain, I will keep you and your daughter and son in my pray. And if medicad can't pay for something like this, they why do we even need it? To me this would be the time that you would need it the most, and they should do everything in their powers to help you all in your time of need. But they probably would if it was one of their own. I hope that she gets everything she and you need to help her proper in life. God bless you all!
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Posted by: Steve Location: Lexington on Jul 10, 2008 at 09:14 PM

I really feel for this family and tell them to do whatever it takes to help their child. If our government lost its edge on medical technology over a religious argument, then go where they care more about real, live people than they do about political BS. It's a shame that in this nation, there are strains and strains of stem cells thrown away into the trash daily due to in-vitro and other procedures that create "extras", but even then the right-wingers would rather it be destroyed and thrown away than to help save a citizen's life. At what point did We The People decide that we didn't care about people and would rather throw them in the trash than to save their lives? It's time to VOTE OUT EVERYONE in our CONGRESS, STATE HOUSE, and STATE SENATE, and show them that WE have the power, not them and they are NOT LISTENING to us. A VAST majority of people are in favor of using these "waste" stem cells for research yet holier-than-thou people in Congress refuse to listen. Get rid of em
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Posted by: Another Batten Mom Location: NJ on Jul 10, 2008 at 06:36 AM

Heather is right about the need to educate part - this whole ordeal would probably have been avoided. My son died from Batten Disease at age 8 - his congestion sounded like bronchitis year round but it was 'normal'. As far as the US studies, they limit the # of kids- that's stupid because there aren't that many kids with this, and how the heck do you turn away newly diagnosed kids for the study? Little Carter is still mobile and doing everything - if you're going to halt progression, why not make cases like his the priority, before they get to the state Hailey is in? These treatments were not available when my Christopher was alive 4 years ago - I admire Miranda's determination to try anything. God Bless them and ALL the children suffereing with Batten Disease.
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