“A lot of people that are involved in these kinds of accidents end up in positions where they are depressed. I am very fortunate that I don’t go there. I don’t allow myself to go there,” shares Ontario resident Dawn A.
Dawn and her husband were involved in a life-changing roll over car accident while on vacation in Egypt 17 years ago. The incident left her with a fractured C2, two broken vertebrae in her thoracic spine, several broken ribs, a multitude of contusions, both hips and knees severely damaged and injured feet, making standing difficult for the first year.
After the accident, Dawn couldn’t lay flat and spent the first year in a specialized medical lift chair, barely able to get to the washroom. She was unable to shower or wash her hair without assistance.
“My doctors told me that the injuries that I sustained through this accident probably aged my body by 20 years,” says 69-year old Dawn.
After the accident, Dawn visited multiple medical professionals, including physicians, physiotherapists, massage therapists, osteopaths and the list goes on. While they were able to provide a little bit of temporary relief through medication and therapies, she says it all felt like a bandaid solution that cost a lot of money.
Dawn was also taking strong muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories, anxiety medications, and dangerous narcotics for years.
“I was always so worried about my organs being damaged by the number of drugs I needed to survive,” says Dawn. “Thankfully I did not become addicted to narcotics, which was a miracle.”
Dawn was told she would likely end up having severe arthritis in all the major joints of her body.
“At that time I asked the doctor, when am I going to get back to normal and he said this is your new normal,” shares Dawn.
The Ontario woman wasn’t willing to accept that there wasn’t a doctor out there who couldn’t help her. Her quest to get better continued as the situation worsened not only for herself but also her husband.
“As his wife I was his main caregiver. That was the time when things got really tough. Not only are you dealing with your own physical injuries and issues and trying to help yourself as much as you can, but now you have your husband who is basically on the threshold of death and just trying to hold it all together,” says Dawn.
After years of being in debilitating pain and struggling to walk without assistance, Dawn heard about Dr. Adeel Khan, Eterna Health’s interventional cell and gene therapy specialist. She went to see him for the first time in 2021 after experiencing pain causing immobility on her right side.
Dr. Khan did an ultrasound and x-rays and discovered the issue was a pinched nerve in her back, which is where he gave her a platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection – a treatment that uses a patient’s own blood to help heal injuries and improve tissue function.
“The second day I found myself walking without pain. I thought wow this doctor is really onto something,” says Dawn.
Dawn also received PRP injections in her hands and could move her fingers that were almost ceased up prior to that.
More than a year later she started experiencing pain in her left side. Dr. Khan recommended a stem cell treatment for both Dawn and her husband at his overseas clinic, since stem cell treatments aren’t yet allowed in Canada.
“I couldn’t believe I was actually able to walk and that was the day after he gave us the stem cell infusions,” shares Dawn.
Her husband’s health has significantly improved as well.
For Dawn, this has been a journey. She has been seeing Dr. Khan for nearly four years now and has witnessed firsthand just how quickly medical technologies are advancing.
“A lot of patients with chronic pain think there’s no solution and they lose all hope but with the next generation of cell therapies, we can treat almost any chronic pain condition, which is really exciting,” shares Dr. Khan.
“As I am aging and I was told this would happen, the residual effects of my accident would start to present and they have and with each one that presents, Dr. Khan takes the situation, analyzes it and decides how he will help me,” says Dawn.
Back in May of 2024, Dawn went for her third treatment after she started experiencing new pain in her lower back.
Dr. Khan used Eterna’s exclusive Muse stem cells to treat the area. Muse cells, short for multilineage-differentiating, stress-enduring cells, are a unique subset of stem cells that have garnered significant attention for their remarkable regenerative properties. They are known for the following: superior stress resistance, targeted therapeutic effects and hypoimmunity potential for enhanced clinical outcomes.
“I am just now starting to walk without a cane. For me that is a huge accomplishment because I have been on a walker and cane for 17 years on and off. I am thrilled that my body is responding to these treatments,” shares Dawn.
While Dawn still uses her cane as needed, she is thrilled there are moments she isn’t using it at all, hoping with ongoing support she will be able to walk on her own all of the time.
Dawn also uses Eterna Health’s hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, which is a pressurized chamber that allows the blood to fill with enough oxygen to repair tissues and restore body functions as well as Eterna Health’s Vitamin IV drips that help give the body energy. She also stays on top of physiotherapy and ensures movement is a part of her daily routine.
“I’m a person that doesn’t give up. The doctor I met five years after my accident who told me that I’m lucky I’m not in a wheelchair and that this is as good as it gets, well he’s wrong,” says Dawn. “Dr. Khan is not like that. He says no this is not as good as it gets, this is what we’re going to do, this is what you’re going to do, this is how you are going to help yourself.”
“For me, it was very important to help Dawn avoid hip or knee replacement surgery. Regenerative medicine is such a life-changing option for so many people like Dawn,” says Dr. Khan.
Dr. Khan has made it his life’s mission to find the best therapies from around the world by partnering with scientists and researchers in the regenerative medicine space. His goal is to keep people off of drugs and give them an option that provides longevity.
Dawn says she has very little pain now. She is grateful to be off of serious narcotics and looks forward to continuing her healing journey with Eterna Health one step at a time!
Thank you Dawn for sharing your story!
