WBZ Cares: Hurler Syndrome Patient Owes Life To The Heart of Feingold
BOSTON (CBS) — Each month, WBZ NewsRadio 1030 will highlight a worthy non-profit organization and tell the story of what it does for the community.
The campaign will involve news reporting, public service announcements and interviews.
For the month of August, WBZ Cares will profile the Genesis Foundation for Children, which raises funds to enrich the lives of children affected by birth defects and other disabilities.
The Foundation was created by WBZ's own Dr. Murray Feingold back in 1982. Dr. Feingold passed away last year, but his legacy lives on through the foundation, which has helped hundreds of young patients in the last 34 years.
One of those patients is 20-year-old Sam Caswell, who lives with his parents and dog Charlie in Bedford, NH. He was diagnosed with MPS1 Hurler Syndrome at the age of six months. Sam had a bone marrow transplant shortly after his first birthday. He's had more than 20 surgeries but has managed to stay positive through it all.
Sam says he owes his life to Dr. Murray Feingold.
"He was one of the greatest men I ever was ever able to meet. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't even be here."
Dr. Feingold was instrumental in getting Sam properly diagnosed and treated as a baby, according to his mother Heidi Caswell.
"He's missing an enzyme that doesn't allow him to break down materials that need to leave the body. Before, what would happen was children would pass away between the ages of two to five, so Dr. Feingold, said there was a doctor out in Minneapolis, that was having much success with bone marrow transplants. Getting the enzyme from new bone marrow into the body and that is what we chose to do. He's 20 and he is here and he is doing great."
Mrs. Caswell says she doesn't know what she would have done without the help of Dr. Feingold and the Foundation.
"They helped with one of our flights out to Minnesota when we had to go back out because that's where the transplant had been performed. They coordinated appointments in the beginning, he had so many different doctor's appointments, and he found all the best doctors for Sam and they would coordinate them, on the same day so we would not have to be driving down there a few times a week."
Heidi Caswell teared up when talking about the death of Dr. Feingold last year.
"It's very emotional. Dr. Feingold just, he is the one doctor who stands out. He was like family to us. He basically saved Sam's life. If he hadn't diagnosed him when he did, Sam would not be with us today. He stayed in our lives until he passed away. He was a very special man."
As for Sam, he is a special young man in his own right, defying the odds and now going on for his college degree.
"I'm going to Manchester Community College, but I will eventually transfer once I get my associates to UNH Manchester."
Sam would like to go into film-making and hopes to one day do motivational speaking engagements, as well as directing movies.
By the looks of it, Sam should have no problem turning his life story into a career.
For more information about the foundation, visit TheGenesisFoundation.org.
