Caring for those who can't
Contributed by CNN -
Published 26 August 2009
Boris Kodjue and Nicole Parker are acutely aware of what resources are and are not available in terms of empowering patients. Everyday they are advocating for their daughter Sophie, who was born with the common birth defect spina bifida.
Spina bifida is caused by the incomplete development of the spinal cord and occurs early in pregnancy. The side effects of this birth defect can range from paralysis to more commonly, problems with bladder and bowel control, which Sophie suffers from.
Boris and Nicole started Sophie’s Voice Foundation to build a community where they can educate, advocate and raise funds for spina bifida research. Among major initiatives for the foundation, educating others is extremely important. The foundation stresses that spina bifida is 70 percent preventable when women of childbearing age take the recommended amount of folic acid vitamin. Currently, the foundations most ambitious initiate is raising funds to support a surgical trial of an experimental procedure that is reporting an 87 percent success rate in China.
In this video, Dr. Sanjay Gupta sat down with the couple to discuss what daily life is like with a child suffering from spina bifida and to talk about their proactive commitment to educate and empower families who are suffering from the same condition.
For a longer segment on spina bifida and more footage of Dr. Gupta's interview with Boris and Nicole, go to: http://getinsidehealth.com/Articles/CNN/Preventable-birth-defects/
More similar stories can be found at: http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/vital.signs/
© 2009 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
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