Darek Fidyka, who was paralyzed from the chest down in a knife attack, can walk again after doctors used a new technique to construct a "nerve bridge" between two stumps of his damaged spinal column.

The technique, described in the journal Cell Transplantation, involved transplanting olfactory ensheathing cells into Fidyka's spinal cord.

"I believe we have now opened the door to a treatment of spinal cord injury that will get patients out of wheel chairs," said Professor Geoffrey Raisman of University College London, who led the research.

"This is more impressive than a man walking on the moon," said Raisman. "I believe this is a moment when paralysis can be reversed."

How it feels to walk again

Fidyka, a 38-year-old, is now at the Akron Neuro-Rehabilitation Center in Wroclaw, Poland.

He told a British TV documentary team it feels like "you've started your life all over again."

The research into the new technique was part-funded by a charity, the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation. The NSIF says Fidyka is recovering well after the procedure, led by Dr. Pawel Tabakow at Wroclaw University.

Tabakow's team removed one of Fidyka's olfactory bulbs, which give us our sense of smell, and transplanted the olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) and olfactory nerve fibroblasts (ONFs) into the damaged area.

They act as pathway cells, enabling nearby nerve fibers to be continually regenerated.

As the new fibers grew and function was restored, this provided a "bridge."

"It is amazing to see how regeneration of the spinal cord, something that was thought impossible for many years, is becoming a reality," said Dr. Tabakow.

Next steps

But as is often the case with such "breakthroughs," the surgeons say more research is needed.

They don't know for sure why the technique worked.

"The OECs and the ONFs appeared to work together, but the mechanism between their interaction is still unclear," said Raisman in a statement.

Raisman says the technique of bridging the spinal cord with a patient's nerve grafts had been used in animal studies for years, but never before in combination with OECs.

"Our goal now is to develop this first procedure to a point where it can be rolled out as a worldwide general approach," Raisman said.

za/cd (AFP/Reuters)