E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSJennifer Vasilakos got the shocking surprise of her life after helping a man who stopped to ask her for directions. That man happened to be the billionaire founder of the Beanie Baby company and what he did may have saved her life. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.
By Kristen Dahlgren and Erica Ayisi, NBC News
What started out as a modest fundraising event held in a Santa Barbara, Calif., parking lot has turned into a life-changing moment for Jennifer Vasilakos, thanks to a chance meeting with Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner.
It all began in a parking lot in July of last year. Vasilakos, 42, set up a table near her hometown's annual Santa Barbara French Festival to raise money for stem cell treatment, displaying signs and flyers that explained her cause. She also brought a small moneybox to stash cash made from parking cars for festival-goers.
Equipped with sunglasses, a water bottle and coffee, Vasilakos was prepared to spend the day raising awareness and telling people her personal story – that she was diagnosed with acute renal failure in 2011 and had received dialysis three times a day, three times a week. It was a grueling regimen that she would endure the rest of her life. A kidney transplant wasn’t an option; she had been rejected as a candidate because of a previous bout with cancer.
Vasilakos, a Reiki teacher and herbalist, decided her only option was to save up for stem cell treatment – a costly procedure that is not performed in the United States.
But as the day wore on, her moneybox largely remained empty. The festival, she said, “was completely dead.”
That's when a lost driver in a “small little car” drove up, looking for directions. Jennifer chatted him up.
Louis Lanzano / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ty Warner, Beanie Baby creator and chief executive of Ty Inc., arrives at the Toy Fair to sign
“The man rolls down the window, has a piece of paper in his hand and he’s looking for a local business,” she recalled. “I provide him instructions and because I am fundraising that day to get my stem cell treatment, I hand him my flyer.”
The man gave her $50.
About an hour later, the driver returned, looked her in the eye and asked if she was the woman in the flyer raising money for stem cell treatment. She confirmed that she was.
Courtesy of Jennifer Vasilakos
Jennifer Vasilakos received this note from Ty Warner, accompanied by a check for $20,000. It reads: "Dear Jennifer, Someone up there loves you because I was guided to meet you on Saturday. I never lose my way, but fate had me lost and ask you for direction. The rest of the story I hope will be a wonderful new life for you. God bless you Jennifer. Ty."
The man replied, “I’m Ty Warner, and I’d like to help you with this and take care of it for you.”
Yes, that Ty Warner – of Ty Inc., the billionaire brain behind the Beanie Babies collectibles craze. Vasilakos said she recognized his name but had no idea he would ultimately make a huge donation.
“I was hoping to raise a few hundred dollars that day by the generosity of my community for the stem cell treatment that I needed to get,” she said. “I had no idea I would meet Ty Warner that day.”
On her blog, Vasilakos wrote: “I listened as he repeated over and over that he was going to help me. That my fundraising was done. That I didn’t need to worry any longer. He said he would send a check after he returned to his offices during the week.”
Several days after they met, Vasilakos received a $20,000 check from Warner along with a handwritten note. She said she hopes it “was a little birdy in his ear that said, ‘You should help this woman.’”
Vasilakos had the stem cell treatment last year in Trinidad.
Warner, according to a prepared statement, was enlightened by their chance encounter.
"After I serendipitously met Jennifer, I further educated myself on her stem cell needs. I was shocked that this particular type of treatment wasn't available to her in the U.S.," Warner said. "My hope is that we can bring this lifesaving treatment to the forefront so that it can become more readily available and provide alternatives for people like Jennifer."
Vasilakos underwent the treatment in September 2012 and now, after months of recovery, she says she feels great.
"The day the length of my dialysis treatment was reduced to two and half hours per treatment was an exciting day. I regained three hours of freedom per month! My blood pressure has dropped down to normal with lower and lower levels of medication," she wrote recently on her blog. "The biggest change is how amazing I feel, and I am brimming with energy. My immune system has become resilient, and I can feel the difference in my body."
Leave a Comment:
The reason this treatment is not available in the US is because it works! Between Big Pharma and the medical industrial complex it is well understood that you "treat the patient as long as possible without killing them but you don't ever cure them! There is no money in actually making people well and whole. Granted she is not out of the woods but... using this reasoning she is paying less! (we can't have that, can we).
The reason this isn't available in the US is because the words "Stem Cells" got tangled up with the word "abortion" and anytime people hear the word abortion, they start freaking out.
Healthcare needs to be outcome based. Without that - the costs are skyrocketing and legitimate ways to treat patients will always take a backseat.
Aren't we supposed to be the most advanced country in the world?
Health care costs are way too high. Does every damn thing have to make millionaires and billionaires?
???????
scubasteve - you are absolutely correct . . . there is only one reason the U.S. is not the leader in stem cell research and stem cell therapies for multiple diseases . . . holier than thou christians who think they should dictate every aspect of life in America . . . the so called "christians" of today are destroying society and lives with their ignorant rants about what is right and wrong . . . history has proven the christian community wrong time and time again and yet they never learn that they are the problem . . . there is no humanity or compassion in christianity . . . just a lot of talk about how everyone else is going to hell . . . I am going to enjoy judgement day when I watch as these do gooders who never do anything for anyone but themself are put to shame . . .
Damned straight Andy. All religious people do is hold back progress because they are so damned afraid of change and anything new that might impact on their beliefs that are backed by NOTHING.
Feel free to move where it is available. Of course if it was available here, people would be screaming and squawking about how expensive it is. Maybe the libs could just add that to the 1,9385,938 things they think can be provided by taxing the rich.
No, how about you move. I'm sick of Conservatives screaming "FREEDOM" if there guns are threatened but have no problem preventing rights for Gays or others they disagree with. "We want prayer in schools! Lets change the constitution!", "Don't take away our guns, its in the constitution and you can't change that!" Truly boggles the mind DrMan. Oh, and please research tax codes for the wealthy before making your final comment, quit spewing out tired Rush Limbaugh quotes. The rich are doing just fine with taxes, and the majority of programs in this country are funded by the Middle Class. Go back to your black and white world and let the rest us solve the issues that are found in the grey areas.
What I'm sick of is oinkers bitching about "high" taxes when, on average, US taxes are the lowest they have been in 50+ years! The highest marginal rate used to be over 90%. How were things at that time? Oh, yeah, that was the time of greatest economic prosperity in American history. Please keep going, Republican party, on your fast track to irrelevancy.
One can only imagine how far along we would be scientifically if it weren't for religious zealots. 2000 years of repression. Damn.
Yup, the flatlanders are holding the rest of the country back once again.
This an example of why health care should be offered with no cost to the user. It has made someone a productive member of society and lowered costs long term. Stem cell treatment should be fully supported in this country.
lol The reason it is not offered in the US is because this "treatment" it doesn't work. It's a scam.
It looks like it indeed did work.. and if it even SAVES one life.. is it not worth the try? If its not, then don't ever follow this brave woman's lead.
wow - very scientific. It "looks" like it worked??? Unless she's dead in two weeks. Or becomes sicker in two months than she was before. Are you going to follow her case and update us on how well the treatment worked on her and a thousand others?
This could be a scam, a coincidence, a one-of, or a legitimate treatment.
Yeah obviously a scam that doesn't work. That's why a Republican congressman and a Republican Governor (Rick Perry) got stem cell treatments. Because it's a scam. Not because it's a treatment they keep away from "little people".
Frostbit...
You know this, how??
That's why many other countries have dedicated research into this medical treatment.....
I sincerely hope you never need it, BUT if you ever do I hope it is available to you.
Another religious freak trying to miss-inform people.
Stem cells can become any cell, they are still finding ways which they can be used. It's basically the GOD particle for the human body and possibly more.
This issue of stem cells is not the only issue USA is falling drastically behind. In a warning, we are letting Europe and Asia lead the way due to our MORAL issues with these types of treatments.
Stem cells should be produced in such large quantities that humans can literally all take a stem cell cocktail, to re-invigorate their body and reduce aging.
My Fellow Americans, we can't afford stem cell research and stem cell cures. With or without the debt ceiling, we can't let the rich have them.
To keep Social Security viable, we need more older Americans dead before they can collect. For all you Old Farts out there, Die early, Die often, and Die without collecting Social Security! Do it for your Country!
BTW, I would say that was sarcasm from WallStFatCat but the sad thing is that is how many conservative republicans feel even if they won't come right out and say it.
It's good to read a story about someone doing something so wonderful for someone they don't even know. God Bless you Ty.
Regardless if you feel stem cell treatment works or not, Ty Warner showed care and compassion to a complete stranger. That IS the point of this story.
Yes that, and also that this lady was working at making herself better, was knowledgeable and took steps to go forward. She did her part and God met her halfway.
God had nothing to do with it.
God ? do we know for sure ?
Which god? Man has invented so many, you need to be more specific.
It is too bad that she must go to a country where religious fanatics do not interfere with science.
If every millionaire ( or better) in this country would do thid kind of thing just once, imagine the number of poor people's lives could be saved!!! Just sayin.....
God Bless Ty Warner!
About 3.1 million. Assuming every millionaire participated and every good deed helped someone who was considered "poor".
I have a better idea. Let's us all collect the money fairly (US government) and make medical care available to EVERYONE as opposed to putting the power to decide people's life or death in the hands of a relative few millionaire/billionaires.
can you imagine how many polio shots it would take to cure you if it was discovered today instead of those silly, unmarketable 50's? salk lost so much money!
A variant of the vaccine discovered by Salk is still used today. Drug manufacturers still make millions from it each year.
Salk, though, refused to patent his vaccine.
What a decent guy to do this for her and what timing! This type of treatment horrifies pharmaceutical companies in the US. Between legalizing this and nationally legalizing marijuana, pharmaceutical companies would collapse. Just these two things would replace millions of unnecessary high dollar prescriptions. Unfortunately, that's why it will never happen even though it should.
I am unsure from the story if it actually worked. She is still on dialysis three times a week for 2.5 hours instead of 3. An improvement, but not significant change. Is there chance of further improvement? Awesome generosity which it seems was the primary point of the story, but a little more science and longterm prognosis would have been nice.
I think the reduction in time was even less. She said she had to take dialysis 3 times a day, 3 times a week. And then she said she saved 3 hours per month due to the reduction in time.
Assuming 4 weeks in a month, that is 36 treatments. 180 minutes / 36 treatments = 5 minute reduction per treatment or 15 minutes per day of treatment.
Scuba - the 3 times a day was a mis-print, should have said 3 hours a day, 3 times a week. Dialysis is only one session per day, the times per week and treatment time are variable.
I hope she gets better, she is a very pretty woman and obviously one who is indeed a "fighter" as she said.
If it turns out stem cells are the cure for ESRD I'm suing Bush Jr.
To the responder who was worried that perhaps this type of stem cell treatment was a scam - my response is
"so what - the whole systemic health care treatment industry is a scam". If it works in her "mind" - then it
may well work in her body. Twenty thousand is chicken feed as compared to what this scam will cost in
the US - once it becomes available.
NEO-CONS ARE DESTROYING AMERICA...
Conservatives would have stopped the Internet from happening. It's common knowledge that the conservative Republican party hates the National Science Foundation. It was the NSF that made the World Wide Web happen, they had the vision to open the door. None of this Internet would be here if it was up to the GOP. http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_nsfnet.htm
July 1, 1956. The Steve Allen Show, New York City. "As Elvis rehearsed for an appearance on The Steve Allen Show, national media buzzed with backlash against Elvis's hip-swinging performance on Milton Berle's show just a few weeks earlier. Conservative critics called Elvis a "disciple of the devil."
Conservatives fear a free society, trying to control what people do... whether it's in Iran or the USA!
Conservatives are bad for America.
The last thing "conservatives" are is conservative. They are radicals, forcing their belief systems on everyone else. If they choose to live under their oppressive ideology, fine, let them.
But leave everyone else alone!!!
not sure how this got political but you're right, conservatives are misnamed. they are anything but conservative. they don't want to conserve freedom for everyone, just those that agree with their point of view. they don't want to conserve the environment, but use it for gain despite any consequences.
Yeah, "conservative" is definitely the wrong word to describe the right as it exists today. "Reactionary" is much more accurate. That is, the right today doesn't want to "conserve" things as they are today. Rather, they want to dismantle and tear down much of what past REPUBLICAN administrations painstakingly put up. For example active government involvement in conservation of natural resources had been a proud Republican tradition from Teddy Roosevelt establishing our US park system to Nixon's establishment of Clean Air and Water acts. The EPA was established by the Nixon administration for Christ's sake! Today's Republican party is about denial of man influenced climate change and "drill baby drill" regardless of any cost to our environment.
The two political sides used to work together to build this kind of infrastructure. Now the right is fighting to starve it to death if not tear it all down. How, in any way, can that be called "conservative"?
This story should be a wake up call to all those people brainwashed in to believing we have the best health care system in the world. Wake up. WE DO NOT! And far from it!
While I applaud the man's generosity, I have to say that gaining three hours a month is not a significantly positive outcome. I think there is a future for stem cell therapy, but it's not going to allow someone to grow a new kidney, or at least not with the techniques and knowledge that the scientific world now has or is likely to develop for many, many years of continued research and development, which involves an enormous outlay of time, resources, and....dare I say it?...money.
We scream and whine about the cost of medical care, and quite frankly, some of that screaming and whining is justified. Truthfully, a lot of it is. However, people who have multiple college degrees and significant time and money invested in their education are not going to work for minimum wage. The environment and equipment required to conduct this kind of research are available because someone was willing to take a chance and invest a very large pile of money as well. It stands to reason that everyone along the line who has significant investments in developments like these will want a reasonable return on their investment, and there's nothing wrong with that.
The problem arises when we start debating the definition of "significant". Is a 10% return over and above the cost of the research, development, and manufacture of a medication enough? And is that 10% before adding in the cost of retooling manufacturing facilities and hiring staff that is sufficiently skilled and dedicated that they will see to it that no one will die from, say, a fungal contaminant?
The truth is that American medicine has priced itself out of the reach of most of our country's citizens, and there are far more factors that contribute to that than most people consider when they start howling about the cost of advanced care. Cutting one aspect of the tier is not going to benefit anyone.
Aside from that, the cost of this woman's dialysis is FAR more than the cost of the treatment she obtained. If it actually worked, don't you think the insurance companies would have jumped on it in a flash? I'm glad she feels better, but essentially it is the placebo effect, not anything that is going to make a permanent difference in her life.
she has a lot more energy and I dare say it wasn't a placebo along with the very fact that she has more time in her life. maybe 30 minutes isn't much to us but to someone that has to do what she does its a lot. ask her.
and just maybe they will learn something from her situation.
It's not really explained well in the article, but I did some further research, it sounds like she is getting better all the time, and the stem cell thing can take several months to finish working. I couldn't find anywhere where it stated exactly how much time it may take however.
It was Bush who banned federal funding on stem cell research in the U.S, a huge blow to science, and trying to find cures for some terrible diseases. Obama has overturned this, and stem cell research in the US is happening now.
Research? You mean you just didn't repeat what you heard from a radio show host? Some of my faith in humanity has just been restored - thank you for that.
And instead spent money on the destruction of Iraq. And then spent our money on rebuilding Iraqi infrastructure. More money spent on rebuilding schools for Iraqi children than schools destroyed by hurricane Katrina in our own country.
And this was done while responsibly undoing the damage that was done in Iraq. There has NEVER been a better example of good vs, if not evil, utter incompetence, than the last 12 years.
Stem cell treatment is being used RIGHT NOW at major hospitals to successfully treat some rare forms of cancer. Some day it may be used to treat nearly ALL cancers. All this IN SPITE of REPUBLICAN opposition.
A good man with a heart.
The article does not tell us what type of stem cell treatment it was. Adult stem cell treatment is the one that has the best benefit and has many cures. The one that "us crazy Christians" don't like is the embryonic stem cell treatment that has not had one cure and encourages the end of a human being.
dmarie, then no matter what don't have embryonic stem cell treatments. Otherwise, keep your "Christian" beliefs to yourself. Whatever you believe in is A-OK with me. Just don't push your religious agenda on the rest of us in any sort of political way. No cures from embryonic stem cell treatments? Your medical research has shown this, has it?
Progress since Bush's day make this position obsolete. Scientists can take a viable blast (embryo grown to dozens of cells), suction off 1 cell to be used to clone stem cells, and the embryo is still viable! So you can now harvest embryonic stem cells without destroying any embryo.
Does anybody know what kind of Stem Cell treatment she received? We're they injected into her kidneys?
Blood system?
Hell ya Ty!
I pray she recovers and Ty Warner for he's generosity. He is a great example of humanity and I can only hope and pray someday I might be able to make a difference in some one else's life as he is trying to do. The best of wishes to you Jennifer our hearts and prayers are with you.
I pray she recovers and Ty Warner for he's generosity. He is a great example of humanity and I can only hope and pray someday I might be able to make a difference in some one else's life as he is trying to do. The best of wishes to you Jennifer our hearts and prayers are with you.
Here is her blog if any one is interested: kidneyrecoverywithstemcells.wordpress.com
Good luck to you Jennifer, I hope you continue to get better. And Ty Warner is an awesome guy for helping her out.
Now that is an example of what the wealthy should do for all of humanity and the world. Do good and don't worry about amassing extreme amounts of wealth. Wealth is fine in the hands of people that have wisdom and a heart. But wealth has made so many perverse that we are busy destroying our planet and ourselves. Paranoia about protecting your wealth is an illness like being over weight from eating too much food. You can't take it with you and you can only buy so much before you realize it won't make you happier.
Thank you Ty Warner for being a man with a heart and recognizing you were needed in this situation.
To ignorant individuals, this is a feel-good story about a wealthy man with the heart to help out. In reality, however, few others will be saved by a billionaire's money, but will only suffer and die. Singling out the lucky one merely rubs salt on the wounds of millions.
On the other hand, if I was a billionaire, this is exactly the sort of thing I would do. And you'd never be able to convince me it was wrong.
Al and Spiel, you are both right (correct).
It is very generous for Ty Warner to do this. I am glad he has a heart big enough to help out.
Shouldn't this treatment be available in the U.S.? If people have a problem with using stem cells, then they do not have to have a procedure done that uses stem cells... Others should be able to, though.
Good luck Jennifer. I am really glad you feel a lot better and have much more energy. Nobody wants to be inconvenienced by having such a treatment every week. It would really affect your ability to live your life to the fullest.