Please Help James Price halt MS’s assault on his body

Dear Friends & Photo Community,

I am reaching out to you for your help in support of a dear friend and colleague, James Price. Many of you know him from his days at Newsweek, where we were photo editors for years.

In 2014 James was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This autoimmune disease attacks and damages the central nervous system: the brain and spinal cord. James’s form of MS is the worst: Primary Progressive. It never relapses; only worsens.

James has struggled to try to mitigate the symptoms of this confounding disease --- from daily physical therapy and exercise, regular visits to an osteopath, and using the Mollii Suit that many of you kindly donated to in his 2023 GoFundMe appeal. That remarkable suit did help ease some severe pain.

But the disease continues to worsen, and James is increasingly incapacitated. Though he continues to cherish his family and friends, and to make art, and follow news closely, pain and exhaustion are now chronic, and he is close to losing his ability to walk even with crutches.

Last fall, James researched a treatment for MS that exploits stem cells. Stem cell transplants were pioneered 60 years ago. Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) has been applied to MS for over 20 years – so successfully that it has become the subject of international clinical trials. It uses chemo to erase the patient’s faulty immune system, then reinfuses stem cells harvested from the patient’s body to regrow and reboot a healthy immune system.

The National Health Service in Britain, where James now lives, offers HSCT to only the few MS patients who meet very narrow criteria that exclude James’s condition. Privately HSCT is available in Britain at a cost of over £100,000 (c. $125,000).

James learned that HSCT for MS is offered at far less cost in some other countries. In Mexico, a clinic with an outstanding reputation, HSCT Mexico Clinica Ruiz, charges about £45,000 ($57,000) for its 28-day-long procedure.

That clinic has performed over 3,500 HSCT procedures for neurologic immunosuppressive conditions over the past two decades. Over 1,600 have been for MS. Its success rate for James’s type of MS – the worst – is 78%, very close to the clinic’s 80% success rate for all types of MS. (Do see the clinic’s informative, impressive website.)

Beyond the clinic’s fee, treatment will entail substantial costs for travel for James and his caregivers and medications he must take for 6 months after he returns home.

Consulting closely with the clinic, James booked a May 5, 2025, date for embarking on this treatment. Please help put it within his financial reach by donating whatever amount you can. HSCT’s potentially life-changing benefits could change James’s future dramatically for the better!

With warmest thanks,

Jamie Wellford

https://www.gofundme.com/f/HelpJamesPrice