A paralyzed man walks again after going through a stem cell transplant, from his nasal cavity to his spinal cord; the procedure allowed the man to take his first steps in years.
Darek Fidyka, a Bulgaria national, is now known as the paralyzed man who walked again after a first-ever historic stem cell procedure in Poland, performed in 2012 by scientists from the northeastern European country and others from London.
The doctors were able to grow stem cells and inject them into the body of Fidyka, who although had a completely severed spinal cord is now a former paralyzed that walks again.
CTV News reports that the paralyzed man who walks again suffered a back stab (of a very literal nature) that completely severed his spinal chord, making him lose his ability to walk since the incident first happened back in 2010 - he spent two years without walking, in other words.
To allow the procedure to occur, the doctors took cells from his brain, in the area that controls the sense of smell: these are called called olfactory ensheathing cells (OEC) and olfactory nerve fibroblasts (ONF). They were later transplanted into the man's spinal cord, and once there, the doctors were able to repair the damage caused by the knifing incident back in 2010, repairing severed nerve fibers and reconnecting the spinal cord.
It seems that the most shocking bit of the entire ordeal behind the paralyzed man who walks again is how fast these stem cells can regenerate tissue.
At the time he lost his ability to walk, doctors gave Fidyka only a 1% chance of recovery, according to the BBC, but the surgery performed on him in 2012 meant that he has recovered greatly, even being able to drive a car.
"It's an incredible feeling, difficult to describe," he told the BBC "When it starts coming back, you feel as if you start living your life again, as if you are reborn."
You can see part of the BBC's documentary about the paralyzed man who walks again below.
