Stem cell patient has scan

Rotorua woman Willie Terpstra has had an MRI brain scan in a Beijing hospital in preparation for the stem-cell transplant she hopes will slow the degenerative motor neurone disease she suffers from.

Last night, the 64-year-old, who has lost her ability to speak, was still waiting to undergo the controversial treatment for the incurable muscle-wasting condition.

United States-trained Chinese surgeon Hongyun Huang will transplant around two million stem cells from aborted foetuses into her brain under local anaesthetic.