A clinical trial did more than just offer treatment options for young Mateo, it also transformed his life for the better.

Mateo was a boy full of energy who enjoyed playing outside with friends. As he got older, his mum, Myra, noticed he stopped running around playing outside, and spent more time indoors playing video games.

“Mateo has a very strong personality. He is quite boisterous and strong in his opinion. However, once he reached eight, nine, ten, I could see that he started to slow down,” Myra said. "He stopped going outside to play with his friends."

Unknown to Myra, this change in Mateo’s behaviour was a symptom of a serious health condition.

At ten-years-old, Mateo was rushed to hospital after collapsing at a play gym with friends and family. At The Children’s Hospital at Westmead Emergency Department, clinical teams found that Mateo suffered a cardiac arrest.

“As soon as we arrived at the hospital, they had monitors on him. What I could see—that I'd never noticed before—was that his heart was jumping out of his chest.”

Mateo spent three months in hospital, being away from his friends and school, as he underwent several tests to provide a diagnosis and treatment for his serious health condition.

“We went through a lot of tests to try and figure out what he had. And there were a lot of departments working together to try and figure it out,” Myra said.

Once Mateo’s condition was diagnosed, Myra and his family faced a choice of two treatment options: a transplant or a clinical trial.

Clinical trials are integrated into the care provided across The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network through our research arm, Kids Research. Each year they operate hundreds of clinical trials, managing over 1,600 participants at any given time.

“We prioritise clinical trials as the heart of translational bench to bedside research, reinforcing our commitment to research-informed care,” said Adj A/Prof Paula Bray, Director of Research.

Clinical trials are how new medicine, treatments or tests are found and implemented. For Mateo and his family, they decided to enrol him in the clinical trial they were offered.

“When we heard that he was accepted, we were just elated that he could then try something that's not going to be a transplant,” said Myra.

Since starting the clinical trial, Mateo has responded very well, and he has only gotten better as time has progressed.

“I have watched him increase his walking from a few hundred meters to more like double that,” said Myra.

“He was able to do a lot more, and he was talking more. Then we were seeing him running around at the playground at the hospital.”

Eventually, Mateo was able to go home and return to school. While he initially needed to be accompanied with an oxygen tank, he soon didn’t need that too.

Mateo now plays outside a lot, with a particular fondness to soccer. He is back to his energetic self, with aspirations to be a video game streamer. Watch Mateo's story below.

Clinical trials are only possible from the generosity of donors. Donate today to Sydney Sick Kids Appeal to support the vital work of clinical trials bettering the care of sick children and young people.

Original news article was published on the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation website.