Hello dear donors, Victor is a charming boy who needs your help to have a full childhood and a better life, to be more independent, to be able to communicate with people and to have friends!

He was born as an emergency in his eighth month in 2020 and from the moment he was born, the fight for his life began. As a result of an infection, our boy was in the neonatology intensive care unit at St. George Hospital in Plovdiv for 11 days and from the first day of his life, he was treated with 2 antibiotics and oxygen, initially being fed with a tube. After he was discharged from the hospital and we took him home, we were very happy to have a healthy child. However, the antibiotics, as well as helping, also managed to harm and Vicky had great problems with bowel movements, he could not go on his own, had to be helped medically and we had to seek a paediatric gastroenterologist to prescribe treatment, which was relatively successful for the time. After all this Vicky started to develop just like a textbook and we were very happy.

Around the age of 2 his behaviour suddenly changed, he stopped looking people in the eye, stopped saying the words he had learnt, started flapping his arms, bouncing constantly and constantly trying to be on the move and put different objects in his mouth. We made a consultation with specialists in early childhood development and they referred us to the paediatric clinic at the University Hospital "St. Petersburg". In June 2022, our boy was diagnosed with "Specific developmental disorder of motor function" by a pediatric neurologist. In addition, the attending physician and the child psychologist at the clinic informally diagnosed "autism", but advised us to go and see a child psychiatrist. In September 2022, we visited the Prof. Dr. Nikola Shipkovensky Center for Mental Health in Sofia and there a child psychiatrist and clinical psychologist initially diagnosed "General Psychological Development Disorder" in the hope that Vicky would outgrow her behavioral peculiarities and/or be corrected through work with specialists. During this time, various ones - psychologist, speech therapist, educator - worked with Vicky on an ongoing basis in order for her to progress and catch up with her peers. In March 2023 we went for a re-evaluation and assessment and due to the lack of progress, Vicky has now been officially diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder with a recommendation to work with a psychologist and speech therapist, something we were already doing anyway and continue to do now. We did some additional testing and it turns out that the child has heavy metals in his system, uranium well above the norm, and an intolerance to gluten and casein which further exacerbates his condition.

Vicky was put on an antihistamine and gluten free diet which requires a lot of resources. To catch up with his developmental delays, Victor sees a psychologist, speech therapist, special educator, sensory therapy or occupational therapy almost daily. Unfortunately, the result of these therapies is minimal. Some specialists have already refused to work with him as they do not see the point due to the lack of results, but we as parents feel that we have no right to put up with the situation. Victor has also already started "behaviour therapy" which is scientifically proven to be the best treatment for children with autism. In searching for help for our child, a lot of reading and talking to other parents, we found out that some children improve a lot from stem cell infusions. Recently such treatments are being done in Bulgaria and we visited the doctor prof. Chavdar Botev, who does them for consultation. It was explained to us that the child needs at least several treatments of 4 infusions and some medication in between treatments to have a good effect.

Unfortunately, the health insurance does not cover this procedure. We were quoted a price of £20,731 to start with for the two initial procedures.

This amount is unaffordable for our family, as in the two years since we found out about Vicky's problems, we have been seeing private specialists in addition to the government ones and following his prescribed diet, which has cost us all available funds. Constant check-ups with different doctors, continuous work with different specialists and adherence to Victor's diet, as well as providing him with his prescribed supplements and medications make it impossible for us to raise the amount indicated for the necessary infusions.

We ask for your help so that our child can improve his condition, become more independent, learn to play with other children, and that one day we can hear some words and sentences from him! Thank you so much for any support you give us!

Dear donors,

Victor is a charming little boy who needs your help in the battle with Autism. Vicky deserves to have a fulfilling and normal childhood just like any other child. He has a right to have a better life, be independent, and have friends just like all of us do.

Victor's mom gave an emergency birth in the 8th month of her pregnancy back in 2020. From the moment of Victor's birth, he had to fight for his life. Because of a dangerous infection, he was in the Intensive care center in the Neonatal branch of the "Saint George" hospital in Plovdiv. On the first day of his life he was put on oxygen and given two different antibiotics. In the beginning, he was not able to be fed like a normal baby and was tube fed. After the antibiotic course, we took healthy Victor at home and were really happy. Our happiness did not last long though. We soon discovered that Vicky was experiencing some pretty serious side effects of the antibiotics. He had trouble going to the restroom and was not able to go by himself at all. So, at this point he needed medical help from a gastroenterologist. Luckily, we were able to find a specialist who guided us through the right treatment. For that moment, the treatment seemed to work and we were a happy family once again. After all of this, Victor seemed to be developing just right. He was hitting all of his milestones and it seemed the worst was over, but not for long.

Around his second birthday, Victor's behavior suddenly changed. He stopped making eye contact. His speech disappeared, like he had never talked before in his life. He started flapping with his hands, putting different things in his mouth, and jumping all the time. It just seemed like he needed to be moving all the time. After these drastic changes in his behavior, we once again needed to have a consultation with a specialist. After a consultation with an early child development specialists, we were guided to visit the pediatric branch in "Saint George" hospital in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. There, Victor underwent some testing and was checked by different doctors. After all the results were in, a child neurologist diagnosed him with a specific disorder in the development of the motor function. On top of that, Victor's main doctor and the child psychologist unofficially diagnosed him with Autism. The doctors advised us to find and visit a child psychiatrist.

In September, 2022 we visited the Center for mental health "Professor Doctor Nicola Shipkovenski" in Sofia for a meeting with a child psychiatrist and clinical psychologist. At first, Victor was diagnosed with general disorder in the psychological development. Our family was hopeful that Vicky would outgrow all of the unusual behavior, or at least that his behavior could be corrected with the help of his medical specialists.

All this time, Vicky had been working with different specialists including a speech therapist, psychologist, and pediatrician. All hoped that with their help, Victor would be able to catch up with his peers. Unfortunately, by the following March little progress had been made. Due to his lack of progress, Victor was officially diagnosed with Autism during a follow-up appointment. There, doctors recommended that Victor continue to work with a psychologist and speech therapist. Acting on their advice, we opted to continue with that treatment plan and hoped things would get better.

In search for answers, we sought additional testing. Laboratory results for his blood showed the existence of heavy metals in his blood, as well as an excessive level of uranium. In addition to the heavy metals and uranium, Victor also has gluten and casein intolerance. All of these factors were worsening his condition. So, he was put on an antihistamine and gluten free diet. The diet has proven costly to our family. In addition, Vicky has to work with a psychologist, a speech therapist, and a special pediatrician. He also needs Sensory Integration Therapy and Ergotherapy. Unfortunately, the results from these therapies are minimal, sometimes close to no improvement at all. As a result, many of the specialists working with Vicky have started to refuse to continue the treatments. But for us as parents, we do not have the luxury to just give up. We started Victor on a "behavioral therapy" which is scientifically believed to be one of the best solutions for children with Autism.

In the process of searching for help for our child, a lot of reading about the condition and endless conversations with parents of children with Autism, we have found out that stem cell therapy has been the best solution for this condition and many children have shown a great improvement from it. Lately, the stem cell therapy has been offered here in Bulgaria as well. So, we scheduled a meeting with a professor and doctor Tshavdar Botev. After thorough consultation with him, he concluded that Victor will need at least a four stem cells infusions accompanied by some other medications in between to better the effect of the infusions.

Unfortunately, the National Healthcare Fund does not pay for the stem cells treatment. We have been told that the price for the first two procedures is 20731 BGN. The amount is out of our budget. Some of the specialists Vicky has been visiting are covered by the National Healthcare Fund insurance policy, but for others we still have to pay out of pocket. On top of that, as described earlier, Vicky has a really specific diet which is costly as well. Victor has to take supplements, as well as continue all the diet plans, medicamentations and treatments advised by his doctors. At this point, with all Vicky's needs on a daily basis, we are unable to collect the funds for the needed stem cell therapy.

We, as parents, will have to do whatever is needed to get a future for our child. We would really love to see Victor have friendships, hear him talk and express himself just like the other children do. We are dreaming to see our boy be more independent and have a normal childhood. That's why we have to ask for help. We will be forever grateful to whomever decide to help Vicky in his battle with Autism.

Thank you!