I will do everything possible to make life better for my son

A five-year-old could soon be able to hug his mother for the first time when he becomes one of the first children to use sibling cord blood to treat his cerebral palsy.

Jay Shetty has been severely disabled since birth, meaning he has never been able to walk, talk or play with his little brother Kairav. He has also been blind for the past three years which was caused by the poor blood flow between his optic nerve and brain.

His family will fly to North Carolina, where he has been accepted into the Duke study because his family saved his brothers cord blood at birth.

As the family did not store cord blood at Jay’s birth he is reliant on his one-year-old brother Kairav’s stem cells, which were taken and stored.

Mrs Shetty, and husband Raj, have been told that there is a high chance he will be a stem cell match for his big brother.

‘Like any mother, I will do everything possible to make life better for my son,’ she said.

‘How can I not when it potentially means a better life for him?

‘We’re delighted that Jay has been accepted for this study.

‘It could lessen his symptoms of cerebral palsy to the extent that he may even be able to walk and talk which would just be wonderful.’