Paralysed man walks again after UK surgery

LONDON: A paralysed man can walk again after receiving revolutionary treatment which one of the British scientists responsible hailed as a breakthrough "more impressive than a man walking on the moon" – although others urged caution.
Darek Fidyka was paralysed from the chest down, but can now walk using a frame after nerve cells from his nose were transplanted into his severed spinal column in Poland, according to research published Tuesday in the journal Cell Transplantation.
Pawel Tabakow, consultant neurosurgeon at Wroclaw University, led a team of surgeons in removing one of the patient's olfactory bulbs before transplanting cultured cells into the spinal cord in the treatment's two crucial operations.
The scientists involved think that the cells, implanted above and below the injury, enabled damaged fibres to reconnect, although other researchers have reacted more sceptically.
"What we've done is establish a principle – nerve fibres can grow back and restore function, provided we give them a bridge," said Geoff Raisman, chair of neural regeneration at University College London's Institute of Neurology, who led the British research team working on the joint project.
"To me, this is more impressive than a man walking on the moon. I believe this is the moment when paralysis can be reversed." – AFP