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 former paraplegic who became the first person in history to 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 treatment from a joint Polish-British surgical team.[3]

Biography

Fidyka – who is of Bulgarian descent[1] – worked as a volunteer firefighter in Poland. His first marriage, which bore a son, ended in 2006.[2] Thereafter, he moved in with Justyna Szczepanik, the estranged wife of his friend and fellow firefighter Jaroslaw Szczepanik.[2] In 2010, Jaroslaw Szczepanik attacked Fidyka, who he believed had conducted a longstanding affair with Justyna. Fidyka was stabbed 18 times and suffered severe injuries, including the severing of his spinal cord, which left him paraplegic.[2] Jaroslaw Szczepanik committed suicide shortly after the attack, and Justyna lived with Fidyka for some years before separating from him in 2014.[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 the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation and the UK Stem Cell Foundation.[1] The surgeons 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.[4] 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.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 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.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "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.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "Paralysed man walks again after cell treatment". BBC. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Paralysed man who walked again visits the UK". BBC. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.

External links