Darek Fidyka
Darek Fidyka | |
|---|---|
| Born | c.1974 |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Occupation | Volunteer firefighter |
| Known for | First person to fully recover from paraplegia |
Darek Fidyka (born c.1974) is a Polish firefighter and recovering paraplegic who became the first person in history to verifiably recover sensory and motor function after the complete severing of his spinal cord.[1][2] Having been paralysed from the chest down in a knife attack in 2010, Fidyka regained the ability to walk in 2014 after receiving a pioneering regenerative treatment from a British-advised Polish surgical team.[3]
Biography
Fidyka worked for many years as a volunteer firefighter in Poland.[2] In 2010, Jaroslaw Szczepanik, a fellow firefighter, attacked Fidyka, who he believed had conducted an affair with his wife.[2] Fidyka was stabbed 18 times and suffered severe injuries, including the severing of his spinal cord, which left him paraplegic.[2] Szczepanik committed suicide shortly after the attack.[2]
Pioneering spinal surgery
In 2012, Fidyka began receiving treatment from a collaborative team of Polish and British surgeons, who used a pioneering technique to repair the damage to his spinal nerves.[3] Prior to this, Fidyka had no feeling in his lower body and remained unable to walk, despite undergoing an intensive rehabilitatory physiotherapy program.[3]
The treatment consisted of a series of experimental surgeries, conducted by surgeons at Wroclaw Medical University in collaboration with medical researchers at University College London's Institute of Neurology.[3] Funding was provided by a number of charitable organisations, including the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation and the UK Stem Cell Foundation.[1][4] The Polish surgical team, led by the neurosurgeon Pawel Tabakow, extracted olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) from Fidyka's olfactory bulbs and grew a cell culture sufficient to repair his damaged spinal nerves, exploiting the OECs' ability to renew damaged nerve fibres.[3] Nerve fibres from Fidyka's ankle were surgically implanted in his damaged spinal cord to provide a framework for the OECs, which were then implanted above and below the damaged area in a series of 100 separate micro-injections.[1][3] The OECs gradually regenerated Fidyka's severed nerve fibres, restoring his sensory and motor functions.[1]
Recovery
Fidyka began to regain strength in his thigh muscles three months after receiving the treatment, and was able to walk in a very limited fashion within six months.[3] In October 2014, after two years of further rehabilitation, he was able to walk outside of hospital with the assistance of a frame, could drive a car, and had also regained some bladder and bowel control and sexual function.[1][3] Fidyka subsequently featured in the BBC Panorama episode "To Walk Again", which led to him receiving thousands of messages from other paraplegics seeking the same treatment.[5] In February 2015, Fidyka visited the UK to participate in Arsenal F.C.'s guard of honour and raise money for the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation.[5]
See also
- Geoffrey Raisman, one of the leading researchers involved in Fidyka's treatment
References
- ^ a b c d e Quinn, Ben (21 October 2014). "Paralysed man Darek Fidyka walks again after pioneering surgery". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
[Fidyka], who is believed to be the first person in the world to recover from complete severing of the spinal nerves, can now walk with a frame and has been able to resume an independent life, even to the extent of driving a car, while sensation has returned to his lower limbs.
- ^ a b c d e "Revealed: The spinal-cord miracle man who was left paralysed in a knife attack was stabbed 18 times by an old friend angry over rumours of an affair with his wife". Daily Mail. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Paralysed man walks again after cell treatment". BBC. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Revealed: How research that let paralysed Polish fireman walk again after UK scientists used nose cells to repair his spine was bankrolled by a British father desperate to help his son". Daily Mail. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
- ^ a b "Paralysed man who walked again visits the UK". BBC. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
External links
- "UCL research helps paralysed man to recover function". University College London. 21 October 2014.
- "Cell transplant sees paralyzed man walk again". CNN. 23 October 2014.