Having the ability to see a crumpled piece of paper on the sidewalk or watching cars drive by on the freeway is not considered to be out of the ordinary for most people. We take the ability for granted in some respects. After all, it is just a piece of trash or one of the millions of cars that are on the road every second of every day. But for Greg McLaughlin, these seemingly insignificant things are a reason for excitement.
After years of living with foggy colors and blurred shapes, Greg can see clearly.
He was unable to read or drive a car four years ago. But his outlook changed, quite literally, due to stem cell therapy. He can now see with almost perfect vision.
In 2002, using stem cells from umbilical cord blood and no embryonic stem cells, Greg, 48, began stem cell therapy.
His strengthened eye was primed for surgery after one year. Then in June of 2003, he underwent his first corneal transplant.
The morning of his surgery he was unable to read even a single word. That very afternoon, he was reading a magazine for the first time in 20 years.
“I never thought I would get this much vision back,” McLaughlin said. “It’s like the difference between a murky lake and a crystal clear swimming pool.”
At the age of 3, an allergic reaction to an antibiotic drug damaged Greg