Manhattan basketball’s Torgrim Sommerfeldt turned to stem cell treatment to get him back on court
Sophomore forward from Norway has Jaspers flying high
By Sean Brennan / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS {{JR: Brennan, Sean [MC1997]}}
Saturday, February 18, 2012, 11:09 PM
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From a young age, Torgrim Sommerfeldt set his sights on chasing his sports dream, one that had nothing to do with skiing, bobsledding or speed skating, winter sport staples in his native Drammen, Norway.
The 6-6 Sommerfeldt wanted to follow his two brothers and sister to the United States, soak up the college experience, and play a little college hoops along the way.
“It’s been my dream since I was 10 years old, especially to come to America,” says Sommerfeldt, a sophomore forward at Manhattan College. “I watched my brothers and sister go to the University of Missouri on track and field scholarships. When I was young I got a taste of what college life was like here and it was something I wanted to experience.”
Sommerfeldt didn’t know at the time that for his American dream to come true, he would eventually need to turn to a new and, in some circles, controversial, treatment: stem cells.
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“It really was now or never for me,” Sommerfeldt says. “I don’t think mentally I could sit out another year.”
With that mindset, Maddalo contacted Dr. Steven Victor from Lenox Hill Hospital, who is also CEO of Intellicell BioSciences Inc., in New York City.
Victor’s process amounts to harvesting fat cells from a patient and separating stem cells from the fat. It’s a procedure similar but not exactly like the one former Yankees pitcher Bartolo Colon underwent prior to the 2011 season.
“What we do is take two ounces of fat from people and then we use our special technology, we use sound waves and water, where we actually separate the stem cells from the fat,” Victor says. “Then we return the stem cells to the orthopedic surgeons, in this case Tony Maddalo, and they inject the cells into where the problem is. These cells are actually anti-inflammatory and they increase blood flow and grow new tissue.”
Colon’s procedure included using the addition of enzymes, which is not approved by the FDA and can only be performed outside the country, according to Victor.
Sommerfeldt’s first treatment came in December of 2010, his second one about six weeks later.
Sommerfeldt didn’t notice any changes right away and, due to the meniscus surgery and stress fracture, says it was hard to tell when the pain in his knees started to subside.
But after spending almost the entire 2010-11 school year on crutches, Sommerfeldt finally got into his first college game on Jan. 20 when Manhattan played at Marist.
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[JR: Long well written article. If you didn't want to study (adult) stem cells after reading this, you must have NO imagination. Great story of courage. Finding a way. And, brilliant science. Of course, the Gooferment's FDA is in the way. ROFL! Applause for all involved for improving the human condition. Ethically.]
Brennan, Sean [MC1997]
Sommerfeldt, Torgrim [MC2015?]
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