Mother Donates “Mama Cells” in Hope of Saving Son with Leukemia
In Rome, Italy, Nichole Blevins, a mother from Alabama,
is undergoing a crucial procedure to collect her “mama cells”—immune cells that could help treat her 11-year-old son,
Branson, who battles a rare T-cell leukemia. Nichole described the process:
“Tomorrow, I go in for apheresis—the process where they’ll collect my immune cells so they
can be reengineered into cancer-fighting cells for Branson.”
Branson has endured months of chemotherapy, hospital stays, and exhaustion,
yet his courage inspires everyone around him. The experimental therapy carries uncertainty,
but past successes in similar B-cell leukemia treatments offer hope.
Nichole wrote, “That’s the hope we’re holding onto.
What worked for others can work for Branson too. This could be his miracle.”
The procedure represents both a potential life-saving treatment for Branson and pioneering progress for children with rare leukemia subtypes.
Nichole emphasized the wider impact: “We’re not just fighting for our boy—we’re fighting for all the kids who will come after him.”