B.C. toddler travels to U.S. for potentially life-changing stem cell treatment

A toddler with cerebral palsy travelled to Duke University for potentially life-changing stem sell treatment and his parents are already noticing changes.

When their triplets Noah, Nolan and Naomi were born more than three months premature in the spring of 2024, Coquitlam parents Natalia Kubiak and Matt Gore knew there could be health challenges.

But they never imagined the difficult road their son Noah would have to travel.

He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and doctors told his parents that Noah wouldn’t walk or talk and would likely be cognitively impaired.

“So since then, we’ve kind of just been doing everything we can to give him the best chance possible,” said Kubiak.

Noah’s parents learned doctors at Duke University in North Carolina were looking for participants for a potentially life-changing treatment.

“They were one of the first to pioneer this type of stem cell treatment specifically for children with cerebral palsy or with brain injuries,” said Gore.

The team at Duke is at the expanded access protocol stage, which means the treatment passed clinical trials. Noah’s parents submitted his medical information, and were told their son qualified.

In October, they brought Noah down to North Carolina, where he underwent his first stem cell infusion.

“Parents have reported changes in motor function, they’ve noticed changes in cognition, immune response. It’s still very early after our treatment, but we believe we’ve already started seeing changes in Noah as well,” said Kubiak.

The biggest change? At 17 months old, Noah is starting to eat some solid food.

“We had cereal puffs for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The other day, we were actually able to eat some scrambled eggs, which I know it sounds like a small thing, but for us, to see where he was before and now what he’s able to do now, it’s been huge for us,” said Gore.

Noah’s parents are planning to bring him back to Duke for a second infusion in May.

“They told us that if it’s within our means, that they have enough of a sample to do up to three treatments for Noah,” said Gore.

Including travel costs, each infusion is $25,000.

“We set up a GoFundMe for Noah, and I am so touched by just the outpouring support we’ve received. We were able to cover the cost of his first treatment through the GoFundMe,” said Kubiak.

They’re hoping additional donations will help them cover the cost of the second trip, and potentially a third.

“We obviously want to do the best we can for our family and for Noah. And for right now, that means trying to get him as many treatments as possible,” said Gore.

“I don’t want him to get left behind. I want him to be able to interact with his siblings,” said Kubiak. “I want him just to have a fulfilled life.”