A Folsom child died in a Minnesota hospital Friday during preparations for an experimental transplant to save her from a brutal skin disease.
Nine-month-old Sarah Mooreland suffered from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare skin disease that claims its victims by their teens or early '20s.
She was to be only the third child in the world to get a cutting-edge type of bone marrow transplant. Sarah died from complications that arose during preliminary procedures for the transplant, which was to have come from her brother.
Driving back from Minneapolis on Saturday, Sarah's father, Jay Mooreland, said the family was heartbroken, but knew the risks going in.
The transplant itself is lethal somewhere between 8 percent and 20 percent of the time.
"Obviously, we're upset, we're grieving," Mooreland said.
"But given how horrible this disease is, the potential for a cure far outweighed the risk. We have no regrets."
For patients with Sarah's type of epidermolysis bullosa, or EB, the skin lacks the protein that anchors one layer of skin to another. Without it, skin everywhere on the body – from the face to the linings of the mouth, stomach and intestines – rubs away at the slightest friction, causing painful blisters and scars. Patients eventually die of skin cancer.
The doctor who was handling the surgery, Dr. John Wagner of the University of Minnesota, said it would be weeks or months before researchers fully understood what went wrong with Sarah.
But when they do, Wagner said, the knowledge will help researchers improve their techniques to make the procedure safer.
"I promised the family before we started that we're breaking new ground and what we learn from Sarah – good or bad – will invariably help other Sarahs in the future," Wagner said.
"Despite the difficulty of this event, it only compels us to work harder."
Mooreland said he felt the same way.
"Her death wasn't in vain."
Call The Bee's Todd Milbourn, (916) 321-1063.
