Paralysed man walks again after pioneering surgery

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Darek Fidyka was left paralysed from the waist down after his spinal cord was sliced in half in a stabbing in 2010. Credit: PA Wire

A man who is believed to be the first person in the world to recover from complete severing of the spinal nerves is able to walk again after undergoing surgery.

Darek Fidyka, 38, from Bulgaria, was left paralysed from the waist down after his spinal cord was sliced in half in a stabbing in 2010.

Watch him walk in the footage below (courtesy of BBC Panorama):

Following pioneering surgery in Poland in collaboration with scientists in London, he can now walk with a frame and has been able to resume an independent life, even to the extent of driving a car.

Surgeons used nerve-supporting cells from Fidyka's nose to provide pathways along which the broken tissue was able to grow.

Professor Geoffrey Raiman's team discovered the technique that aided Fidyka. Credit: BBC/PA Wire

Despite success in the laboratory, it is the first time the procedure has been shown to work in a human patient.

Professor Geoffrey Raisman, whose team at University College London's Institute of Neurology discovered the technique, said: "We believe that this procedure is the breakthrough which, as it is further developed, will result in a historic change in the currently hopeless outlook for people disabled by spinal cord injury."

Fidyka now believes he will one day be independent. Credit: BBC/PA Wire

Fidyka himself - who had shown no signs of recovery before the treatment began, despite extensive physiotherapy - told the BBC he now believes he will one day be able to live independently.