A spinal cord injury happens with there is damage to the spinal cord, whether due to an accident, illness or health condition. The damages to the spinal cord causes communication between our brain and the rest of our body is interrupted, resulting in a loss of movement and sensation from below the level of the injury. Any part of the spinal cord can be damaged and the higher up you damage the spinal cord, the more movement and sensation can be lost.

Every 8 hours, someone in the UK is paralysed as a result of a spinal cord injury and in the past, such spinal injuries would be deemed irreversible but advancements in medicine are giving new hope to patients. An amazing example of such advancement is the recent news that a woman who was paralysed seven years ago due to a spinal cord injury has been able to regain the use of her hands, after taking part in a medical trial for spinal stimulation.

Sarra Wilson, aged 39, broke her neck when she was thrown off a horse, back in 2018. Between her helmet and the top of her body protector, she had severed her spinal cord, leaving her paralysed from the chest down. She remembers being laid on the ground, unable to feel anything, until a friend’s 3 year old daughter found her. When she awoke from a coma after being treated at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, she was unable to move anything but her head

Mrs Wilson had taken part in a year long medical trial called Pathfinder2, alongside 10 other participants. The trial was focussed upon improving upper body strength in patients with spinal cord injury. It involved stimulating her spinal cord with electrical pulses with a device called ARC-EX, which was developed by Onward Medical. The pulses, delivered by pads stuck to the outside of her skin near the injured spinal cord, excited neurons so that signals weakened or interrupted by the injury could drive movement.

As well as the wonderful results for Sarra, other participants in the trial saw improvements in their balance and lower body functions. Although NHS England has advised that this type of technology is still in the early development, Spinal Research believe they are a step closer to assisting with recovery from paralysis. Sarra advises that “it was really life changing”, allowing her to feel like a mum again and helping with her independence and confidence.

It is truly amazing that, due to her engagement in the trial, Sarra can now be an active parent again, being hands on with her children such as reading them a book, playing games and even simple things like combing her daughter’s hair.

As well as Sarra’s trial, Spinal Research are funding three other UK studies involving use of implantable and external spinal cord stimulation systems. Spinal Research is the

UK’s leading medical charity focused on the repair and restoration of the spinal cord and their aim is to cure paralysis, supporting groundbreaking research and helping to deliver major scientific breakthroughs through clinical pilots and trials. For more information of the work that Spinal Research do and how you can support them, please visit their website Who we are – Spinal Research