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Miracle Workers Attempt To Restore Sight In Blind Man
March 06, 2006 12:04 AM by Joe Blackmon
Miracle Workers, a new series about real people overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds with the help of an elite team of medical professionals, premieres Monday, March 6 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET) on ABC. In the premiere episode, "Heritage/Slaughter," one man, blind for 22 years, undergoes a revolutionary new treatment that may restore his sight; and a woman suffering from degenerative bone and disc disease is given a medical procedure that may enable her to once again lead an active life.
Todd Heritage, a 34-year-old father to three children, has been blind since childhood due to an allergic reaction to penicillin. He has defied many odds and now helps others as a nursing assistant in Kent, Ohio. His friends, family and community have been a tremendous support to him, but all he wishes is to be able to see the ocean, the stars and the faces of his own children. A revolutionary two-part procedure is Todd’s only chance to see again, using stem cells from both a live donor and a cadaver. First the surgeon extracts stem cells from the membranes of the live donor’s eye, and then those stem cells are combined with corneal surface stem cells from a cadaver’s eye. Together these cells grow over the patient’s damaged cornea. If successful, Todd could see again for the first time in 22 years.
Vanessa Slaughter is a 47-year-old woman who suffers from degenerative bone and joint disease. As a woman who loves people and dreams of opening her own flower shop, being confined to her walker and wheelchair have put her dreams on hold. She has undergone five back surgeries, but they have done little to ease her pain and limited mobility.
Doctors will attempt a new procedure called Anterior Spinal Fusion on Vanessa. A titanium cage filled with bone chips is inserted into the spine from the front of the body, in the hope that the spine will fuse together. This cutting edge surgery could be Vanessa’s only hope to fulfill her dreams for an active life.
Topics: Miracle Workers |
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March 8th, 2006 at 1:19 am
I would like to know the name of the surgeon that did Todd Heritage’s surgery
March 10th, 2006 at 7:20 pm
I also am a victum of SJS, have benn since Feb. 22,05. I* am wanting to get information from the Miracle Doctorson restoring my eye sight in the near future. please help with info.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Water pollution is the World’s biggest problem today
August 12th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Pretty much nothing seems worth doing. I’ve just been letting everything happen without me these days. I’ve just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but whatever.