Human trial aiming to repair spinal cord damage opens to applicants in Australia
It is a goal the motocross rider has been working towards since suffering a spinal injury while riding freestyle ramps more than a year ago.
"The little mundane jobs, like, I just can't wait to make a meal standing up or put the washing out on the line," the 33-year-old said.
"For someone who's paralysed, it is so much harder, the morning routine can take up to two hours.
"Obviously, I only had my injury a year ago so it's all fresh in my mind, everything I used to take for granted."
Ms Peet is one of an estimated 20,000 Australians who live with a spinal cord injury.
She is also among those who can apply to be part of a medical trial that aims to help repair spinal cord damage.
Applications open today for a Griffith University trial that intends to use cells from the noses of paralysed patients and transplant them into their spinal cord with the aim of encouraging them to regenerate and grow over the injury.
Thirty people will be selected to take part in the program, which includes more than 12 months of rehabilitation.
The trial will primarily assess whether the therapy is safe, but Ms Peet said she was excited to be able to apply.
"They've been working on this for such a long time, and it could change everything for spinal cord injuries," she said.
"It's something we suffer with every single day, it's not what we should have to deal with — it's so hard for all of us.
"It's so unfair that there's no cure for it."
For Perry Cross, the trial has been a long time coming.
He hoped applicants would show the demand for the research.
"Without the person affected by the situation advocating, it really falls on deaf ears," said Mr Cross, whose foundation is among several organisations funding the research.
"This technology was talked about when I was injured in the 1990s, well, that's a long time ago now.
"We're only now getting to the starting line. I think that's what's important for everyone to understand."
Mr Cross said he was optimistic about the research, but there were limitations.
"It won't be a miraculous recovery, it will take time," he said.
But he said small changes through new therapies could result in large improvements in quality of life.
"It's huge, because I'm basically 95 per cent paralysed — I can only feel the surface of my face and move my head voluntarily," Mr Cross said.
"I have to have a ventilator breathe for me, so just to be able to breathe on my own, be able to feel my body again, move a finger on my arm … they're huge accomplishments for me.
"For other people, who are possibly paraplegics, they might be able to move a leg or a foot."
Professor James St John is leading the blind and randomised control trial at the Gold Coast University Hospital.
He said the first phase was mostly about safety and it would take about three to four years before larger trials began.
"We're still going to be at least eight to ten years away before it gets into the clinic somewhere as a routine therapy," Professor St John said.
He said the trial was looking for a diverse range of patients who live in Australia and have a chronic spinal cord injury from the fifth cervical vertebra.
Professor St John said it had taken $25 million in funding to progress so far and the clinical trial is expected to cost another $15 million.
He said the treatment was not just about the transplant, but the rehabilitation that goes along with it.
Outside of the trial, Ms Peet said she spent two to three hours in rehabilitation each day because it was important for her recovery.
"Rehab is the number one thing," she said.
"It's about trying everything, because what works for one person won't work for another person."
She said she worked every day to regain independence.
"The littlest things, to stand up and look at people at eye level," he said.
"You don't realise how sitting down [when] everyone's standing up affects you as a person."
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