In January, two-year-old Korben Morrow was put into a medically-induced coma. The young leukemia patient was in need of a bone marrow transplant but his doctors doubted that he would make it. Fortunately, a cord blood donor intervened, and Korben is now expected to make a full recovery.

“He started off with them not even sure he was going to make it through”, says Rachel Morrow, Korben’s mother. “Now, he’s home and they’re expecting him to live a long, fully happy life”.

Soon, Korben will undergo chemotherapy treatment. The dose will be very strong, so as to eradicate all traces of the cancer from his blood cells. During treatment, his immune system will be compromised, so the cord blood transplant will help to restore the cells that were damaged during chemotherapy. The cord blood stem cells will also help Korben’s body to begin producing healthy cells.

Rachel Morrow told KOCO.com that she considered banking Korben’s cord blood when he was born, but she was unable to afford the initial storage fee. She now says that it would have been a small price to pay for the peace of mind she would have received.

“Because if that one-in-a-million shot does hit you, it would be really nice to have that available”, she says.

Korben will receive his transplant in June, and his family is looking forward to see the young boy live a long and healthy life.