Hope in Mexico
By: Kevin Caufield
Source: www.newstrib.com
In his youth, Peru resident Don Arter could stand on the mound and smoke 90 to 95 mph fastballs past batters. He played basketball on a college scholarship, and was even offered a contract by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Many years have passed and now Arter’s health has turned for the worse. He has Parkinson’s disease, a neurological condition that — when his medication isn’t active — causes him intense pain, insomnia, muscle freezing, and sometimes a lack of mental faculties among other troubling symptoms.
“About three of four times everyday I feel like I’ve been thrown in jail,” he said. “Sometimes it really hurts and it scares me.”
The Arter family has found hope in perhaps one of the least expected places: Tijuana, Mexico.
Don was scheduled to undergo a procedure this weekend outlawed in the United States called live cell therapy.
The procedure involves injecting fetal cells from a pharmaceutical flock of sheep raised in Germany into Don’s hip. The cells are specifically formulated for each individual’s needs, and sent to medical professionals, freeze dried, with allergens removed.