Family turns to radical treatment to reverse stroke

A TOOWOOMBA family will soon know if a revolutionary treatment is going to lift the fog shrouding 26-year-old Joel Shepherd's mind.

His sister Susan Graham-Ryan will fly with Mr Shepherd, their mum Coralie Graham, brother Kris and one of Mr Shepherd's carers to Los Angeles on Sunday.

On Monday, Mr Shepherd is due to undergo reverse stroke treatment, which will hopefully reduce inflammation caused by a brain injury he acquired when he was three-and-a-half years old.

Funding the perispinal etanercept treatment has been a huge undertaking.

WHAT'S HOT ONLINE

"Mum had to get a big remortgage of the house to cover the cost of it," Mrs Graham-Ryan said.

But the burden has been eased by community members, some complete strangers, who have generously donated money to help fund the treatment.

"It has just been amazing and overwhelming at the same time," Mrs Graham-Ryan said.

A drug used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis will be injected into a large blood vessel at the base of Mr Shepherd's neck.

He will then be suspended upside down to ensure the drug stays in the area it is intended to repair.

Read the rest here:
Family turns to radical treatment to reverse stroke