Jay McGregor (10), who has cerebral palsy, is undergoing the first stages of a £20,000 revolutionary stem cell therapy, funded by the people of the North-east who backed his fam-ily's fight for the treatment, which they hope will give him a better quality of life.

The Aberlour youngster is one of the first from Scotland to be treated at the Beijing hospital.

He has had bone marrow taken from his hip which has been cultured in the lab and induced into neural stem cells which will be re-introduced into his body in a series of injections.

The first was due to have been given to the youngster this week, but has been postponed, to the disappointment of his mum, Nicola Binks (31), who is with Jay, along with her own mother, June, and June's friend, Julia Lister.

They are, however, pleased with the progress Jay has made as a result of daily physio, occupational therapy and traditional Chinese medicine sessions – although the strong-willed schoolboy isn't shy of showing his stubborn side, and is sometimes less than co-operative.

Ms Binks said: "On Friday, Jay was thrilled when Lily (his therapist) put his tongue to the top of his mouth and he was able to say 'J' for the first time. He got so excited, and managed to say the letter about six times.

"He also managed many other exercises, and was so happy. He has also managed to say 'ee' on a few occasions, which is very good. He can't say it consistently, but we will keep practising."

Jay has limited mobility, but Ms Binks has noticed small improvements in his movement and the position of his feet.

The family, who are five weeks into their eight-week trip, are now awaiting the stem cell injections which scientists say will act as a repair kit, taking the place of Jay's damaged cells, although it can take months before signs of improvement become evident.

Jay McGregor with his mum, Nicola Binks.

They are meantime taking in some of the sights of the city, which is preparing for next year's Olympic games.

Ms Binks said: "China is not what I expected: a lot of places look very run-down and poor, although now they are starting to clean it up for the Olympics, so there is a lot of construction work in progress.

"We stopped outside the stadium to take photos, and it looks like a metal nest. Julia and I went shopping, and we bought some thermals, as it is getting very cold here. Everyone wears thick footless tights here, even the men, to keep them warm.

"On Saturday we hired a carer to look after Jay so that we could go to the Great Wall of China. We went with a few of the people staying here, and they had organised a tour guide. We left at 7.30am, and it took an hour and a half to get there, and we then climbed a part of it to the top.

"It was really good, but very tiring, climbing stairs continuously, but there were amazing views from the top."

On one occasion, the visitors found themselves brewing up a cuppa to savour. They stopped at a street tea stall and were invited to try some of the different blends. Mrs Binks went to buy a packet of tea and some biscuits, but quickly changed her mind when told the price was £59, and exchanged it for one costing £5 instead.

Ms Binks added: "They were selling us only the leaves that have been freshly picked for the rich ladies in China, so we had a very rich tea party – they thought we had plenty of money!"

She has created a web blog at www.stemcellschina.com/blog/jay for those interested in following Jay's progress.

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