Trial offers hope for wheelchair bound

Jamie Harris lost the use of his legs and an arm when he was hit by a car five years ago. Photo / Christine Cornege

For 26-year-old Jamie Harris, the world turned black one dark night in May 2006.

The Hamilton man, then 20, had been celebrating his mother's wedding and was walking on a country road when a car hit him.

When he woke from a three-day coma, he had lost the use of his legs and one arm.

The accident ended his skateboarding - his "reason for existence" - and made changing clothes, venturing outside and even going to the toilet a constant struggle.

But a revolutionary clinical trial planned by the Spinal Cord Society's expert team of doctors and scientists has brought hope that he may one day walk again.

The trial - one of several in development - combines a rehabilitation programme with ground-breaking surgery that uses special cells within the human nose to repair spinal cord injuries.

Mr Harris battled through seven months of rehabilitation before much of the internal damage healed, but chronic health problems have plagued him for the past two years.

"I've heard in other countries, this has helped people get their feeling back. I'm extremely excited about the possibilities of this trial. And I can at least be part of something that might benefit humanity," he said.

Dr Jim Faed, who will direct the two-year trial from the society's clinical research laboratories in Dunedin, said something similar had never been tried.

"What makes our clinical trial a world first is the comprehensive two years of follow-up and physio each patient will receive, which has never before been included in similar clinical trials."

The ultimate aim was to get patients walking again and engaging in normal activities in life, Dr Faed said.

A successful trial would usher in a new round of studies, where a "special matrix" to support the implanted cells would be developed.

Society president Noela Vallis saiid that although the trial was just the first step in developing a potential cure, it was a "constructive step forward" for some people in wheelchairs with spinal cord injuries.

The trials are scheduled to begin in the first half of next year and will be funded entirely by the society, which is working to raise the final $1 million needed.

Those who qualify and wish to participate are asked to contact the Spinal Cord Society clinical research team by emailing enquiries@scsnz.org.nz or phoning (03) 479- 5858. Information and donations can be made online at www.scsnz.org.nz.

Who qualifies

Up to 12 people with a specific type of spinal cord injury are being sought. The requirements include:

* People with complete thoracic-level spinal cord injuries, defined as having an absence of motor and sensory function below the level of the spinal cord injury.
* People aged between 18 and 35 years of age.
* People who suffered their spinal cord injury between two and seven years ago.