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. 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.
Fidyka worked for many years as a volunteer firefighter in Poland. In 2010, a fellow firefighter attacked Fidyka, who he believed had conducted an affair with his wife. Fidyka was stabbed 18 times and suffered severe injuries, including the severing of his spinal cord, which left him paraplegic. His assailant committed suicide shortly after the attack.
In 2012, Fidyka began receiving treatment from a collaborative team of Polish surgeons and researchers, in collaboration with British scientists, who used a pioneering technique, based on research by Alan Mackay-Sim, to repair the damage to his spinal nerves. Prior to this, Fidyka had no feeling in his lower body and remained unable to walk, despite undergoing an intensive rehabilitatory physiotherapy program.
The treatment consisted of a series of experimental surgeries, conducted by surgeons and researchers at Wroclaw Medical University in collaboration with University College London's Institute of Neurology. Funding was provided by Wroclaw Medical University and number of charitable organisations, including the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation and the UK Stem Cell Foundation. 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. 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. The OECs gradually regenerated Fidyka's severed nerve fibres, restoring his sensory and motor functions. Darek Fidyka lives for the most part of year and has been rehabilitating in „Akson”,the Neuro-Rehabilitation Center for the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injuries in Wroclaw, Poland where dr Tabakow also works. „Akson” is affiliated with Wroclaw Medical University. In March 2016, the medical centre that helped Fidyka regain neural function of his limbs announced they are looking for two people to help confirm the treatment in a trial; the trial will be independently assessed.
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