‘We were told we could never walk again’
Manchester terror bombing victim Martin Hibbert and cyclist Steve Cook tell Fiona Duffy of their ‘miracle’ cure
The TV may have been playing in their hotel room, but Martin Hibbert and his wife Gabby had long lost interest. Instead, they were staring intently at his bare feet. “There!” cried Martin. “It moved again.” The focus of their attention? His right big toe.
Wiggling a digit is hardly headline news. But for Martin – the closest person to survive the Manchester Arena bombing 10 months earlier – it was nothing short of a miracle.
The 41-year-old football agent who lives in Chorley had been left with catastrophic injuries, including a severed spinal cord. Paralysed from the belly button down, he was told he would never walk again.
But in March this year, after just two hours of treatment at the NeuroPhysics Therapy Institute in Gold Coast, Australia, his big toe flickered into life.
“It started to twitch, then, by really focusing, I was able to wiggle it back and forth. Gabby and I were transfixed. I remember saying: ‘Wow – if I can do this after two hours what will I be like after two weeks?’”
Indeed, after just eight sessions at the Queensland clinic, Martin had mastered crawling, kneeling, cycling and even standing. Two months later he was following his daily exercise schedule while busily training for the Manchester 10k in his wheelchair, which he completed last Sunday. With another visit now planned in September, he’s confident that it’s only a matter of time before he is walking unaided.
NeuroPhysics Therapy is a radical new treatment which uses breakthrough science to tap into the patient’s nervous system and “reboot” or “recalibrate” the way it works. The patient performs a variety of very gentle, controlled, exercises such as closing their eyes (to switch off the visual cortex) and enter into a relaxed state, which is said to encourage the two hemispheres of the brain to communicate with each other. When practised methodically, this process is thought to then stimulate a selfhealing process in the body.
“As the patient responds and learns to relax, a whole-body transitional neurological tremor can result. This is a powerful tool which really opens up the central nervous system and speeds up communication,” explains Ken Ware, NPT therapist. “The central nervous system, which includes the spinal cord, has a tremendous capacity for self-repair and in patients with spinal cord injury, the system ‘learns’ to bypass the lesion and forge new pathways through the body.” Or put another way: “Imagine a huge tree falling across a motorway causing a build-up of cars. Eventually, with enough incentive and desire, drivers will find a way around the obstruction. That’s exactly how the body works, too, in the right environment.”
The treatment, discovered by Ken Ware, is currently only practised at his clinics in Australia and New Zealand. However, Ken, who works out of his clinic in the Gold Coast, is now being invited to speak at international conferences and NeuroPhysics Therapy is fast becoming recognised as an advanced form of training and rehabilitation. As the founder and pioneer of NPT, Ken is training other therapists and is keen to bring it to Europe. In Rome, next month, Martin will join him on stage to show his progress at a conference on neurology and brain disorders.
One person who understands the real “miracle” of this therapy is Steve Cook, 55, from Cleethorpes, Lincs, who was the very first UK patient to undergo therapy at the Australian clinic after he was left paralysed in a horrific cycling accident in 2015. A car ploughed into him, breaking his spine in four places, but within 18 months of embarking on NPT treatment he was walking again.
“I’m over the moon for Martin,” Steve says. “Like me, he now has hope for the future – instead of the ‘there’s your wheelchair – off you go,’ message we were both given. I can’t wait for us to progress together.”
Time trial champion Steve was squeezing in an impromptu early morning ride when disaster struck three years ago. “Suddenly there was a bang and everything went black,” he explains. Steve had been hit from behind by a car travelling at 60mph.
He was airlifted to Queens Medical Hospital, Nottingham, where MRI scans revealed two of the spinal fractures were critical. “Doctors operated to try to decompress the spine but, when I came around, there was still very little sensation.
“When doctors start mentioning paraplegia and phrases like ‘chances are nothing’s going to come back’, I realised ‘They’re breaking the news gently, here’.
“My main worry was how my wife, Louise, and teenage sons, then 13 and 16, would cope.” After a month in hospital Steve was transferred to Pinderfields Spinal Unit, Wakefield. “I’d been trying to stay positive until my consultant said my chances of recovery were between zero and three per cent.”
While googling “recovery from spinal cord injury” Steve came across astonishing video footage of John Maclean, an Australian Paralympic athlete taking his first unaided steps after 25 years in a wheelchair with the help of NPT therapy.
Promising footballer Maclean had suffered an almost identical accident in 1988, at 22, when he was hit by a truck. He, too, was told he would never walk again. He became an inspirational para-athlete, but plagued by an ancient left shoulder injury, he visited NPT therapist Ken Ware. While working with Ken, John’s entire body responded to treatment and his paralysed legs moved. Newly activated neurons were bypassing John’s spinal lesion and finding other paths to travel along.
Within just four days of treatment, John had taken three steps. Just one month later, he was walking.
Now walking unassisted, John has completed a triathlon as a conventional athlete and his autobiography looks set to be made into a Hollywood film.
“I read about John Maclean in my hospital bed and immediately decided ‘I’m going there’,” says Steve.
Eleven months after his accident, Steve had flown out to Queensland. Within a few days of embarking on therapy, he had experienced his first transitional neurology tremor.
“As my body tensed Ken urged me to ‘let go’. Suddenly, a huge tremor spread through my whole body – including the paralysed areas. Afterwards, Ken explained my brain was ‘bypassing’ my injured spine to send messages to my legs. To start with, it was a bit frightening – like hyperventilating. But, with practice, I learned to control it. After a few more sessions, I was able to stand, perfectly balanced. It was incredible.”
After six weeks of treatment, Steve returned home – walking on crutches. He made a second, three-week trip to Australia last autumn and, in March, this year, celebrated taking his first unaided steps. “I’m now cycling again – using foot drop supports for my paralysed feet. I was recently examined by one spinal surgeon who couldn’t believe
‘I was examined by one spinal surgeon who couldn’t believe how far I had come’