“After having the stem cell therapy, literally within a day he was able to move his neck, something he hadn’t been able to do in years”
Caiden Wakerley has received treatment in Panama for his condition(Image: Dawn Wakerley)
A mum from Accrington has said she “sneaked” her son into Panama for medical care after her son was “blocked” from overseas treatment by UK doctors.
Dawn Wakerley first noticed her son Caiden had difficulty walking and moving his neck and at the age of five and he was initially diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). This condition affects his ankles, hips, neck, shoulder, wrists and fingers and can be debilitating – but Dawn’s thought something else was at play.
After years of seeking answers, Caiden was nine-years-old when he was diagnosed with Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD), an autoimmune disease that’s so rare many doctors never encounter it.
MCTD attacks Caiden’s joints, muscles, lungs and vital organs which causes him relentless pain and is characterised by overlapping signs and symptoms of three major connective tissue diseases – systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), scleroderma, and polymyositis.
As a result, Caiden, now 12, was only able to learn how to ride a bike at the age of nine and cannot enjoy life’s adventures as a child normally does.
In order to reduce the pain as much as possible, the Wakerley family, including dad Graham and daughters Ellie and Khaleesi, have regularly travelled over to Italy for treatment to see a specialist MCTD doctor in Milan. Here, he received six IVIG treatments – a therapy that uses immunoglobulins which are taken from human blood to treat a condition.
Caiden received stem cell therapy in Panama and it has allowed him to live the life of a normal child(Image: Dawn Wakerley)
Mum-of-four Dawn considered this “life changing” for her son, but the course of the treatment hasn’t been smooth sailing.
In April 2025, his IVIG treatment was unable to carry on as UK doctors “blocked” the family from receiving treatment in Italy until his platelets levels improved, saying it wasn’t in the youngster’s best interests. Fortunately, the family eventually received the go ahead and treatment continued – but things changed again for the Wakerley family.
Needing to constantly raise funds for Caiden’s overseas treatment, Dawn set up a fundraiser that she promotes on social media and uses various methods of fundraising to get friends, family and her local community to support.
On New Year’s Eve last year, Dawn was surprised to see her fundraiser had managed to raise £10,000, thanks to comedian Jason Manford’s Charity Ninjas. The social media group raise money for people in need through “secret” donations and by showcasing Dawn’s fundraiser, Caiden was able to receive further treatment in Italy – or so they thought.
Caiden’s parents had started researching the benefits of stem cell therapy, treatment that had previously been mentioned to them. Unable to receive this in the UK, they started looking at the Stem Cell Institute in Panama, a place used by the rich and famous such as Mel Gibson, to improve their health.
Using the money raised by the Charity Ninjas and at a cost of £16,000, Caiden visited Panama in March 2026 to receive stem cell therapy and finally, it was the answer the family had been looking for.
“I’ve been looking at this and how it repairs tissue in your body and everything that’s going on,” Dawn explained when talking about stem cell therapy. “There are people out there, adults with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus and then there’s a lot of children that go out there with conditions like cerebral palsy because it helps children with life-limiting conditions.
“Even if they’re in a wheelchair and they’ve never been able to walk but then they’ve had the stem cells and they’ve been able to get out of that wheelchair. Even behavioural issues it can help with the brain.
“Graham had just been saying it was amazing to hear the other parent’s stories, with children who have been given no help at all in the UK. They just disregard it and they don’t want to know, but there’s proof in the pudding.”
Dawn says because Caiden’s condition is two in a million, the stem cell therapy has never been trialled directly on his condition, but it has on some of the symptoms he exhibits. In Panama, he received 16 million umbilical cord stem cells, which has given Caiden a new lease of life.
“I first noticed with Caiden was his ankles when walking on tiptoes and then he couldn’t put his neck back and turn it properly,” Dawn said. After having the stem cell therapy, literally within a day he was able to move his neck, something he hadn’t been able to do in years.
“The proof is in the pudding – he had a full range of movement almost immediately from the stem cells being put in to those problem areas, as well as the 16 million stem cells over the four days he was there. It was just absolutely amazing, he came back and started putting weight on, but then an absolute storm came.”
Unfortunately though, Dawn was unable to tell the UK doctors her plans as she’d be “blocked” from going and only informed them once the treatment had been done. She claimed: “They were in uproar and told me we shouldn’t have done it and that it was a safeguarding issue.
“I asked but why? You just told me how well he looks, how he’s put weight on and everything’s looking amazing which all had been confirmed before I told you what we had done, but now I’m being told it’s a safeguarding issue.”
Dawn says the hospital asked for the Wakerley family to be open and honest with them, but the mum says she had exhausted all options by that point. She said: “We told them we would do everything it takes to get our son out of pain.
“We gave them opportunity and I remember my husband saying to them before, is there anything you could recommend to us, no matter what the cost is to help our son, when you’re saying IVIG is no good? They categorically said no, you’ve just got to trust the process with the meds. We had lost all faith in them at that point.”
But not taking no for an answer, the family did their research and came across the Institute in Panama – a decision they will never regret. Dawn said: “Caiden went to the Pleasure Beach for the first time and played out with his friends. Just because we’ve done what we’ve done, it’s made it so that he can do these things now.
“Whereas before, he could never have gone on a ride, never in a million years. He was too lethargic and he wouldn’t have been able to grip on to the rides, so he’s got where he needed to be.”
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