SUPERHERO
unaided, has been really emotional for everybody. Nobody can understand how I’m doing it!
“And I keep saying ‘watch this space’. Because there is more to come! My physique has changed completely. I am fitter than I’ve ever been in my life.” NeuroPhysics Therapy is a series of programmed exercises that change the way the brain sends messages to the body. In patients with spinal cord injury, neurons, or nerve cells, are encouraged to bypass the injured area and send messages to the limbs. Dad-of-two Steve Cook, 56, left paralysed after a cycling accident, was the first UK patient treated at the clinic in 2016. Steve, of Cleethorpes,
Lincs, is now walking and even cycling again – completing a 100-mile ride this summer.
Martin said: “It’s great to hear these success stories and know that we’re not only inspiring but giving hope to others.
“Every day at the clinic, Ken was introducing me to new patients from all over the world. They were saying ‘we’re here because of you’. That was a very humbling experience. Ken wants to meet my consultants to show how far we’ve come and that this treatment really works.
“When you leave a spinal unit you’re given nothing to hope for. Even if, in future, patients are told ‘there are treatments out there’ rather than ‘you’ll never walk again. Sorry but that’s it,’ it would be a start. At least they’d have something to aim for.”
And he vowed: “I’m going to be standing up as much as I can now to get strength back in my legs ready to start walking. I want to do all the things I used to take for granted, like cooking a meal or standing up in the shower.”
Martin also hopes his story will encourage others who suffer a spinal cord injury.
“It’s not just about standing again,” he said. “It’s about inspiring others to get up, get out and start living again. I lived in Australia independently for four months and travelled home alone. I’m driving an adapted car now. Yes, life
MARTIN HIBBERT PLANS FURTHER RECOVERY STEPS
I want to do things I took for granted like standing in the shower
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