Extraordinary Medical Costs for Little Ayah
Donation protected
I'm Kati Wilkins, and recently a dear friend from my days living in Sweden reached out to me about a colleague's daughter who has a rare genetic disorder. Beautiful Ayah just turned 1 this January, and needs help getting treatment for her disorder. The family lives next-door in Denmark, and the most effective treatment is currently not approved in her country, so she hopes to bring her daughter here to the US for treatment. The problem is, the treatment she needs is one of the most expensive in the world!
This GoFundMe account is to help Ayah's family raise the funding needed for her treatment and associated travel expenses. Times are tough for everyone, but if you're able to spare some extra funds, please do so. Also, please share this story widely. Also, please be sure to read their story below. Anything you can give helps! We are trying to raise $2.4 million for little Ayah's rare medical condition, so any help you can give will go a long ways.
BACKGROUND
This is Ayah (born on January 15, 2020), a bubbly little princess who likes to smile a lot. Ayah has a rare genetic and degenerative disorder called SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) type 2.
SMA is a rare genetic disease that affects the central nervous system, voluntary skeletal muscle movement, and the peripheral nervous system (the connection between the central nervous system and the rest of the body). As a result, SMA affects basic motor functions such as walking, hand movements and feeding. After progression, the patients lose the ability to swallow, breathe and eventually die.
SMA affects one in 10,000 live births and cannot be cured. However, today patients are given treatment options to prevent further progression, as any damage caused by the disease is irreversible.
Ayah developed like a normal child by age and achieved the appropriate milestones. After 10 months, Ayah was diagnosed with SMA through genetic testing after we questioned her sudden regress of achieved developmental milestones and minimal use of her legs. Prior to this, we had never heard of SMA.
Since the diagnosis, Ayah has been put on Spinraza, a prescription drug administered as a spinal injection throughout a patient’s life. Spinraza increases the ability of the SMN2 gene (which is a back up of the SMN1 gene-the one that Ayah is missing) to produce SMN protein which in turn improves motor functions and survival.
Zolgensma is a new one time gene therapy treatment for kids under the age of 2. It REPLACES the missing SMN1 gene with a new, working copy that helps motor neuron cells work properly and survive but it’s currently the most expensive drug in the world at $2.1 million. It is NOT a cure since it does not reverse damage already caused by SMA before treatment. However, with supportive therapy, it has by far shown the best results. It is recommended that the earlier the patient receives the treatment, the better.
We are fortunate and grateful to the Danish healthcare system for giving Ayah Spinraza. However as parents, we cannot leave the approval of gene therapy in Denmark to chance and hope that, it will be ready before Ayah turns 2 years old. As any parent, we wish the best for our child, but even more so in regards to her health. Besides Zolgensma only having to be administered once, it has proven to be the most effective in clinical testing.
OUR GOAL
The goal is to raise enough funds (15 million DKK)to cover the costs of the gene-therapy treatment (Zolgensma) and additional expenses like travel, consultation fee and accomodation during her treatment abroad. By giving Ayah this treatment, we hope to give her an almost normal childhood where she will be able to play with her big sister without any major obstacle. We are in a race against time to achieve our goal since this treatment is currently only approved for children under 2 years old.
We would like to invite you to help Ayah's family, friends and network create awareness around this fundraising by sending us your prayers, positive thoughts, contribute financially and/or share this invitation with more networks so that we may reach as many helpful souls as possible. Every single contribution means the world to us.
We hope to get Ayah treated as soon as we raise all the funds needed. $2.1 million will be used to buy the drug zolgensma. The remaining $300,000 and any additional donations will be used for treatment at Boston Children's Hospital, travel and accommodation during our stay in the USA. Thank you so much for your kind donations!!
please follow Ayah´s journey on :
facebook: Little Ayah
Instagram: @little.ayah
REFERENCE: www.curesma.org
About me:
Mary, Little Ayah's mother, reached out to me through a friend to set up an American GoFundMe account on her behalf, as GoFundMe requires an American to handle American accounts. I am acting as her pro-bono fundraiser. All funds will be sent directly to Mary to use for Ayah's treatment and stay in the US while her daughter is receiving care. I will not take any portion of any funds raised. We deeply appreciate your kind contributions!
This GoFundMe account is to help Ayah's family raise the funding needed for her treatment and associated travel expenses. Times are tough for everyone, but if you're able to spare some extra funds, please do so. Also, please share this story widely. Also, please be sure to read their story below. Anything you can give helps! We are trying to raise $2.4 million for little Ayah's rare medical condition, so any help you can give will go a long ways.
BACKGROUND
This is Ayah (born on January 15, 2020), a bubbly little princess who likes to smile a lot. Ayah has a rare genetic and degenerative disorder called SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) type 2.
SMA is a rare genetic disease that affects the central nervous system, voluntary skeletal muscle movement, and the peripheral nervous system (the connection between the central nervous system and the rest of the body). As a result, SMA affects basic motor functions such as walking, hand movements and feeding. After progression, the patients lose the ability to swallow, breathe and eventually die.
SMA affects one in 10,000 live births and cannot be cured. However, today patients are given treatment options to prevent further progression, as any damage caused by the disease is irreversible.
Ayah developed like a normal child by age and achieved the appropriate milestones. After 10 months, Ayah was diagnosed with SMA through genetic testing after we questioned her sudden regress of achieved developmental milestones and minimal use of her legs. Prior to this, we had never heard of SMA.
Since the diagnosis, Ayah has been put on Spinraza, a prescription drug administered as a spinal injection throughout a patient’s life. Spinraza increases the ability of the SMN2 gene (which is a back up of the SMN1 gene-the one that Ayah is missing) to produce SMN protein which in turn improves motor functions and survival.
Zolgensma is a new one time gene therapy treatment for kids under the age of 2. It REPLACES the missing SMN1 gene with a new, working copy that helps motor neuron cells work properly and survive but it’s currently the most expensive drug in the world at $2.1 million. It is NOT a cure since it does not reverse damage already caused by SMA before treatment. However, with supportive therapy, it has by far shown the best results. It is recommended that the earlier the patient receives the treatment, the better.
We are fortunate and grateful to the Danish healthcare system for giving Ayah Spinraza. However as parents, we cannot leave the approval of gene therapy in Denmark to chance and hope that, it will be ready before Ayah turns 2 years old. As any parent, we wish the best for our child, but even more so in regards to her health. Besides Zolgensma only having to be administered once, it has proven to be the most effective in clinical testing.
OUR GOAL
The goal is to raise enough funds (15 million DKK)to cover the costs of the gene-therapy treatment (Zolgensma) and additional expenses like travel, consultation fee and accomodation during her treatment abroad. By giving Ayah this treatment, we hope to give her an almost normal childhood where she will be able to play with her big sister without any major obstacle. We are in a race against time to achieve our goal since this treatment is currently only approved for children under 2 years old.
We would like to invite you to help Ayah's family, friends and network create awareness around this fundraising by sending us your prayers, positive thoughts, contribute financially and/or share this invitation with more networks so that we may reach as many helpful souls as possible. Every single contribution means the world to us.
We hope to get Ayah treated as soon as we raise all the funds needed. $2.1 million will be used to buy the drug zolgensma. The remaining $300,000 and any additional donations will be used for treatment at Boston Children's Hospital, travel and accommodation during our stay in the USA. Thank you so much for your kind donations!!
please follow Ayah´s journey on :
facebook: Little Ayah
Instagram: @little.ayah
REFERENCE: www.curesma.org
About me:
Mary, Little Ayah's mother, reached out to me through a friend to set up an American GoFundMe account on her behalf, as GoFundMe requires an American to handle American accounts. I am acting as her pro-bono fundraiser. All funds will be sent directly to Mary to use for Ayah's treatment and stay in the US while her daughter is receiving care. I will not take any portion of any funds raised. We deeply appreciate your kind contributions!
Fundraising team (5)
Kati Wilkins
Organizer
Washington D.C., DC
Mary Mithika
Team member
Mary Mithika
Team member
Edna Sangaka
Team member
Anita Sangaka
Team member