We'd like you to meet Kyle, 17 years old, 4'1”, 51 pounds, excellent verbal logic skills, and a great student! He has hopes and dreams like other boys his age, but mostly he hopes for a bone marrow transplant that will deliver the life saving stem cells he needs to recover from Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare affliction of the skin that renders it as thin as cellophane. The slightest pressure results in the equivalent of 2nd degree burns over his entire body leaving scar tissue behind fusing his fingers and toes together. Kyle doesn't spend his free time like most boys his age, rather he spends it in having multiple surgeries having this scar tissue removed so he may grip things.

He has a severe form of EB, Recessive Dystrophic EB (RDEB), affecting him both inside and out. Sometimes eating isn't so simple because of blisters inside his mouth and throat. Children born with this affliction are often referred to as butterfly children. Their blisters are not what you know, they can be as large as a water balloon, leaving them without skin over most of their bodies. Most do not live to age 30 dieing from a severe form of skin cancer or other complications.

Kyle is strong, he was not suppose to live past a week old. He is 17 years old. No complaints, and very optimistic.

Until now there has been no hope for a cure. Kyle thought one day he would grow up and find one. However that doesn't seem necessary as Dr. John Wagner and his team at the University of Minnesota Fairview Clinic have pioneered treatment to develop the anchoring fibrils missing in EB skin. The treatment requires a bone marrow transplant. At $500,000.00, Kyle's family, like most others, is denied this miraculous cure that would allow him to actually go beyond his dreams and actually swim, surf, ride a bike, hold a pencil, even paint a picture.

We are hoping that Kyle will be the 4th recipient of this miracle. If he is, Kyle would be able to get dressed like you do in the morning without spending 2 hours prior soaking off bandages covering his entire body, generally from his shoulders to toes because of a lack of skin. He wouldn't be tormented and torn by a simple seam in his clothes. His world would expand beyond his computer, books, television; his dreams would become his life.

We find that Kyle contributes to all lives he touches. Your generosity touches his. We thank you for your kindness and thoughtful consideration.

Please click here to learn more about Kyle www.cotaforkyleh.com or to make a donation which will help save his life. https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?supId=0&ievent=276254&lis=1&kntae276254=

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