When news emerged last week that 13-year-old Ciaran Finn-Lynch is healthy two years on from having revolutionary stem-cell surgery to replace his windpipe, Atlanta's Erica Lyles Greene, whose brother underwent a similar procedure last November, had words of praise for the teen.

"Thank you for being so brave," Erica said of young Ciaran. "He did it two years ago. And how amazing is it that he is alive and well? This is exactly what my brother had hoped for."

Christopher Lyles (30) was diagnosed with a rare form of tracheal cancer in June 2011. Over the next three months, he endured 33 rounds of radiation treatment and seven of chemotherapy.

Finally, his doctors informed him that the tumour was too big to operate on and that they could do no more.

Erica and an aunt began trawling the internet for possible cures, when they came across Dr Paolo Macchiarini, the director of the Advanced Center for Translational Regenerative Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, who was at the cutting-edge of tracheal transplants.

Amazingly, in spite of the fact that reports about Dr Macchiarini's work were easily found on the internet, Christopher's doctors hadn't a clue about it.

"They had no idea that someone was performing tracheal transplants," Erica said. "And they said 'It's in Europe. Why are you looking there? That's kinda kooky.' And we said 'No, it's not'."

Stem-cell research has been contested terrain in America for decades. The battle has largely revolved around the issue of embryonic stem-cells.

Pro-life activists have waged a very active campaign to block the use of embryonic stem-cell use, insisting that life begins at conception and that destroying an embryo is, therefore, taking a human life.

Stem-cell research in the US still lags behind efforts in other parts of the world.

Follow this link:
It saved Ciaran, but America split on stem-cell cure