A year since his accident, Lucas now has recovered near complete motility in his fingers—enough to write and use the phone, to begin recovering ways he lived before the accident. Looking back, Lucas says he can only describe it as a miracle.
“In my heart, I believe that being in a wheelchair is temporary. In my lifetime, I’m going to walk. So, it helps know there’s something over the horizon, some level of a cure.”
When my son Roman Reed was first paralyzed, and lying in the hospital bed, he developed a pressure sore on his right heel: harmless-looking, at first, just a black spot the size of a dime. But the darkness grew, spreading until it covered his foot, and higher. The doctor prescribed “moon boots” to take the
October 11, 2017 is Stem Cell Awareness Day, a day when we celebrate the progress we've made and look forward to the future of stem cell research as it continues to revolutionize medicine.
Only a year ago, Lucas was a paraplegic. Now he's throwing the first pitch at a baseball game.
“My overall mission is to get people to believe that their abilities are endless regardless of the disabilities or physical and mental challenges they face."
“I began to realize how lucky I really was to be alive."
Thanks to funding from Proposition 71, California’s $3 billion investment in stem cell research, and the state funding entity it created, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), there are now 36 human clinical trials in various stages of progress, including a trial for spinal cord injury. Condition: Spinal Cord Injury Accepting Applicants: Yes Status: Phases 1/2a trial
“It was the worst day of our family’s life: September 10, 1994."
