Most families see cord blood banking as a valuable opportunity – a chance to preserve stem cells that, if one of their children falls ill in the future, might provide a lifesaving treatment option. Andres and Paulina Treviño are a startling exception: when they banked their daughter Sofia’s cord blood with Viacord, they already planned to use her stem cells to treat and potentially help save her brother Andy from a life-threatening immune disorder.
Rewind five years to when, after Andy was born in Mexico City, a barrage of infections kept him hospitalized for most of his first 16 months. When Andy’s doctors couldn’t understand why, they advised Andres and Paulina to find specialized care. Coincidentally, one of the Treviños’ neighbors had a cousin who worked at Children’s Hospital Boston. They learned the hospital is a a world leader in helping families overcome even the most complicated immune disorders. So they packed their bags and carried Andy thousands of miles away.
