Stem cells give Hawaii’s favorite son 15 months of standing ovations April 19, 2007

Posted by TheraVitae in : Press Releases , trackback

Summary: Entertainer Don Ho, a household name in the U.S., who died last week after a long battle with heart failure, gained an extra 15 months doing what he loved. His story has inspired many others to seek the benefits of adult stem cell therapy.

BANGKOK, Thailand 19 April 2007: Over the years Don Ho has given great pleasure to many thousands of his fans. When someone who lives in order to give is struck down by heart disease and runs out of options, they lose not just their health but their reason for living. That happened to Don; he thought his life’s work was done, that his final curtain had come down. But then he heard of Theravitae and came to Bangkok for its VesCell stem cell therapy. The show was not over yet.

Don Margolis, Founder of TheraVitae, remembers Don with affection. “I was fortunate to play a small role in getting Don Ho to Asia for his stem cell therapy, and then was a visitor during his hospitalization. It was wonderful to see him the day after his surgery, all smiles and most of all, alive with energy.

His recovery was unusually rapid, especially for a 75-year-old, but his cardiologist wisely played it safe and kept him off the stage for seven weeks despite how good he felt. When he went back, according to his audience, you would never know he had been so ill.”

Don continued to bring joy to his audiences; he married and went public about his experience with stem cell therapy and in that way positively affected the lives of many other patients, who like him, had run out of options. 

Several Hawaiians who successfully received stem cells for their failing hearts owe a lot to Don Ho.  As one of them said this week: “We are especially grateful for his ‘going public’ with his stem cell procedure, for that is how we learned of TheraVitae, and came to Thailand for Pat’s procedure. We are grateful that we had the opportunity to thank him both personally and publicly, and to have been colleagues with him in the “Hawaii stem cell cohort.”

In summing up Don Margolis said, “Thank you Don Ho. You were too modest to realize how many lives you have helped. It was great knowing you!”