Photo by Miranda Pederson/Daily News Jackson Blackford, 1, looks into a light show toy that his mother, Rachael Stayer, holds for him to look at. Jackson’s light perception has improved since receiving treatment for optic nerve hypoplasia, an underdevelopment of the optic nerve.

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For the past three weeks, Jackson Blackford has been sick with common baby ailments, including colds and stomach flu.

But that hasn’t stopped the Bowling Green tot, who turned 1 in December, from exploring his world through new eyes.

Jackson recently received treatment for optic nerve hypoplasia, an underdevelopment of the optic nerve.

“He’s much more motivated to get around. He’s sitting with his head up and looking around. He’s crawling and starting to walk,” said Rachael Stayer, Jackson’s mother. “He’s nervous about it. When you can’t see, you don’t know what you’re getting into.”

He was one of five children who are part of a case study to see how much their sight can be improved using a transplant of healthy donated umbilical cord stem cells at Beike Bay Stem Cells China, which produces stem cell products from umbilical cords.

“He’s doing really great. We think that his vision is definitely getting better. I’m pleasantly surprised he’s got this much light perception this quickly,” Stayer said. “When we took him to his eye doctor a month ago, he was surprised his light perception was as good as it was. With him being the youngest one in the (case study) group, they suspect that he should gain enough vision to function and have a better quality of life.”

Kirshner Ross-Vaden, vice president of foreign patient relations and lead medical consultant of Beike Bay Stem Cells China, agreed that Jackson is doing well. He can reach out and grab objects 6 inches away. He can see objects that are at least 2 feet away. His eyes are more steady, so he can focus better, and he’s starting to do things like look out windows.

“We’re very pleased. He is doing things very indicative of visual improvement,” she said. “For a child who doesn’t see, we don’t realize how much of our development is impacted by our ability to see - from reaching out and grabbing to lifting your head up. If you can’t see to crawl toward something, what’s the point of crawling?”

Jackson can also see facial gestures, Ross-Vaden said.

“Rachael stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed,” she said. “Prior to treatment, he didn’t respond to facial gestures.”

Before his treatment, Jackson lived in a world of total darkness. Stayer and Jackson’s father, Tommy Blackford, found out their son was blind when he was 3 months old. Although devastated by the news, Stayer and Blackford refused to give up hope that there was some way to help their son.

Stayer learned of Beike after an uncle saw a news story on television about a family participating in the case study. He e-mailed the story to her. Stayer called the reporter who did the story and was put in touch with the family of the child who was receiving treatment. Once Jackson was accepted for the case study, he and his family went to China on Oct. 15.

“The care that the doctors and nurses give to each individual patient - you couldn’t ask for better care or compassionate people,” Stayer said. “The head doctor was wanting to take Jackson home for the night because he loved him so much. The nurses would come in and kiss him every morning and bicker over who would get to hold him.”

Jackson was also a sensation with the general public in China, Stayer said.

“When we’d take him out in public, Chinese people would gather around his stroller and push each other out of the way,” she said. “They’d run up to him and touch his cheeks and hands. Everybody loves his feet. He was a little celebrity with his big blue eyes and blonde hair.”

Jackson tolerated the stem cell transplants well, Stayer said.

“The first treatment was given through an IV. The last three were given by lumbar puncture, like a spinal tap,” she said. “With the first lumbar puncture, he had a little fever and had to be given extra medicine. It was very non-invasive. He handled it extremely well - better than I would’ve.”

While in China, the family met people from all over the world who were at Beike to get stem cell treatments for various ailments, Stayer said.

“Everybody was friends with each other because we’re there pretty much for the same reason,” she said. “We became close to some of the other patients.”

Stayer said Jackson seems confused sometimes when he sees light.

“I think it’s scary for him. He squinches his eyes sometimes,” she said. “He looks at it and turns away from it - just like anyone else. Sometimes he fusses like he doesn’t understand.”

The family and medical experts won’t know for about nine months how much Jackson’s sight has been corrected. Ross-Vaden, who has a nursing background and developed the protocol of treatment at Beike, believes Jackson was treated early enough to keep him on track with developmental milestones.

“We got to him at a critical point in time. Improving his vision will help him progress. Now he has the motivation to crawl, walk and look around,” she said. “The sooner children are treated, the better. If we can get to them before they develop delays, we can impact their lives early on.”

Since their Nov. 7 return to Bowling Green, Blackford and Stayer have been keeping a close watch over their son. They plan to get an oxygen chamber in the next couple of months so Jackson can start oxygen therapy, which will help the stem cells and optic nerve function better. They’re also considering another stem cell treatment in two years.

“We know it doesn’t hurt him. We have enough faith in it,” she said. “With treatment and God’s grace, I think he will be able to function pretty well.”

Stayer said she is grateful to the people who helped raise money for the $60,000 trip to China - which included travel, living expenses, treatment and rehabilitation. Insurance didn’t cover Jackson’s treatments. She now wants to help others find the help they need to overcome optic nerve hypoplasia.

“God definitely blessed us. We could pay for everything that needed to be paid for,” she said. “It will be a blessing 10 times over to be able to help other people.”

— For more information about Beike Bay Stem Cells China, call (877) 278-362-3557 or visit the company’s Web site at www.stemcellschina.com.