Minnesota Man With ALS Hopes Stem Cells Save His Life

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - A Minnesota man living with Lou Gehrig's Disease is hoping a unique treatment can help him defy the odds.

Fifty-one-year-old Steve Stefano was diagnosed with ALS in 2011.

The one-time long distance runner from Hugo is now in a wheelchair and needs a ventilator to breathe.

"I would run six miles a day before I got sick," Stefano said.

As the saying goes, Stefano was living the dream. The former high school quarterback married his high school sweetheart. They had a son together, and life was good. That was until 2011, when pain in his shoulders eventually led to a life-changing diagnosis. Steve had ALS.

"Denial," Stefano said. "I didn't want to believe it. It was a hard day."

Steve now spends his days in his living room, and he needs around-the-clock care.

Instead of going out for a run, a ceiling track helps him get from his recliner to the bathroom. And a ventilator keeps him breathing.

But despite losing control of his life, Stefano still has hope.

Last month, Stefano made a grueling, cross-country trip to see a doctor at the Peace Wellness Center in Phoenix, Arizona. She performed a relatively new procedure on Stefano. She took stem cells from his fat tissue and injected them into his shoulders, legs and other problem areas.

"They go into distressed cells, distressed tissue, and they become that," said one of Stefano's nurses, Lori Hockenberger. "Maybe it will help with Steve's neurons, joints, connective tissues."

About 53 percent of ALS patients see improvement after nine months, and the procedure is known to extend lives.

The reason Stefano could even get to Phoenix was because of close friends and complete strangers.

"One of our classmates up there donated $500," said Stefano's father, Leonard. "I damn near cried because I know this guy -- he does not have the money."

A few weeks ago, some of Stefano's North St. Paul classmates put on a benefit to help him raise money for the procedure. They thought they could raise about $10,000. They were wrong; they ended up raising about $35,000 to help get Stefano to Phoenix and to get him the procedure he needed.

"When I left there, I sat in my car and started to cry," said Stefano's sister Shaun Collier. "That speaks volumes. There are people we didn't know that sent money."

The gesture has gone a long way, as medical expenses have piled up. Stefano and his family also support the "Right to Try" bill that recently passed in Minnesota. It will allow terminally ill patients to try medications that have not yet been approved by the FDA. For Stefano, every opportunity, however small, can hopefully lead to something big.

"Keep on fighting," Stefano said. "Never give up. There is always hope out there."

Stefano wanted to thank all his friends and family members that have helped him along the way.

And he said the list is a long one.

If you'd like to help Steve with his medical expenses, go to Stefano's website.