Boulder Creek family of quadriplegic raises money for stem cell therapy

BOULDER CREEK -- Growing up, Jerry MacCallister wanted to be a naval aviator. Now, he simply wants to scratch his own nose.

The 23-year-old Boulder Creek resident broke his neck in a 2009 dirt biking accident, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. While he regained some mobility in his arms during his initial six-week hospital stay, he lost it all in 2012 when he fell into a coma for eight days. Since then, he's slowly relearned how to breathe and talk, but still can't move his body.

After years of working with countless doctors and physical therapists without seeing significant improvement, MacCallister will undergo stem cell therapy this summer in Thailand. Looking to chip away at $40,000 in travel and medical procedures, his family's hosting a spaghetti feed Saturday at the Boulder Creek Fire Department.

"It's basically his last hope," said his mother, Katie MacCallister.

Her son will receive eight stem cell injections derived from an umbilical cord during the course of 40 days, as well as physical, aquatic and occupational therapy and acupuncture. It typically takes up to nine months to see results.

Beike Biotechnology, a company that specializes in adult stem cell therapy, will oversee the treatment.

"Realistically, nobody expects him to get up and walk away from (this therapy,) but we want him to scratch his own itches and feed himself," said Katie MacCallister, who has researched the treatment since 2009.

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After the coma, Jerry MacCallister would wake up each morning, forgetting that he was paralyzed -- every day for months he had to relearn that he couldn't move. He spent 10 weeks in the hospital.

"It's every mother's worst nightmare," Katie MacCallister said as she choked back tears. "I wouldn't wish it on my own worst enemy."

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Boulder Creek family of quadriplegic raises money for stem cell therapy