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Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Spine zapper that means despite her paralysis, Sarra can now brush her daughter's hair again
Scaling Mount Snowdon would be an achievement for anyone. But for Sarra Wilson it's even more impressive. Sarra was paralysed from the chest down in September 2018, when she fell from her horse Lorenzo after he was startled by a pheasant as she rode across the family farm. Sarra broke the fifth vertebra in her neck – and her life changed in an instant. The accident left Sarra, 39, unable to walk, with minimal movement in her arms, hands and trunk – meaning even sitting around a table to enjoy a normal meal with her husband and three children was impossible. But now Sarra has regained some movement and sensation after taking part in a UK trial, described as a 'gamechanger' for the 110,000 in this country living with paralysis as a result of spinal-cord injury. Every year, around 4,700 people in the UK suffer a spinal-cord injury, with falls and road traffic accidents the leading causes – around 12 per cent are the result of an injury sustained during horse riding or rugby. 'Usually when the spinal cord [the nerves and tissue which carry impulses from the brain to the body] is injured, it's pinched or crushed rather than severed or torn because it's protected by the bony channel called the spinal canal,' explains David Baxter, a consultant neurosurgeon at the Whittington Hospital in London and associate professor at University College London, who was not involved in the trial. 'If you suffer a crush injury, the nerve fibres in the spine, called axons, which transmit electrical signals from the brain to the body and back again are damaged – which causes paralysis.' This 'primary' injury can also lead to bleeding and swelling in the spinal cord, which further reduces blood flow and worsens the extent of paralysis, leading to 'secondary' injury, adds Mr Baxter. 'As a result, a scar forms which makes it difficult to repair the nerve fibres, and there was little hope of improvement in these patients – until now.' For the new trial, called Pathfinder 2, ten participants, who had a chronic spinal injury at least a year before, which had left them paralysed, had electrodes attached to the skin on the back of their neck close to their injury site. These electrodes were then connected to an external device that delivers electrical stimulation set by a programme technician to each participant's injury and requirements – greater movement in their arms, for instance. At the same time, they carried out targeted rehab activities – such as stacking cups or gym-type exercises, using adapted standing rowing machines, for example. The idea is that once the nerve fibres had been 'woken up' by the stimulation, the exercises help re-train them to send and receive impulses. 'The electricity isn't being used to directly move the muscles but instead find and recruit nerve fibres, with some of them responding better than others to different energies,' says Mr Baxter. Part of the aim of the trial was to find the best level of stimulation to use. It's thought doing this over a sustained period – each participant had 120 two-hour sessions over a year – helps to create new pathways in the brain to improve movement, he adds. 'We know that spinal-cord injuries cause reorganisation between groups of cells in the nervous system which control movement, and so this approach was aiming to remedy that by targeting them more precisely,' says Mr Baxter. All the participants found their hand grip, dexterity and trunk control improved, meaning they could position themselves better and move in their wheelchair enough to do everyday activities such as eating at a table. Gains made did not plateau even after a year, which suggests the therapy offers long-term benefits and people might see further improvements if continued. Three participants had their classification of spinal-cord damage changed to reflect their slightly improved function – while another, who was paralysed from the waist down, was able to take her first unsupported steps since 2017. It's hoped that following these results, due to be published in the journal Neuromodulation, the ONWARD ARC-EX System which delivers this therapy – already approved in the US – will be approved for use in Europe and the UK by the end of the year. 'Pathfinder is a very positive step for people with spinal-cord injuries where previously they had little hope of restoration of function or walking and using their hands again,' says Mr Baxter. And, he says, even seemingly small improvements can hugely improve someone's quality of life, which Sarra would heartily agree with. After her accident, Sarra, who runs a farm with husband Adam, 40, in Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire, realised instantly that she couldn't move. She was flown by air ambulance helicopter to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where X-rays revealed she'd broken a bone in her neck so badly it resembled a 'smashed up digestive biscuit', she recalls a doctor saying. Sarra underwent an eight-hour operation to take bone from her right hip to replace the broken vertebrae, stabilise her spine and support her head. She was put into an induced coma for two months before being moved to the National Spinal Injuries Centre in Buckinghamshire in December 2018. Sarra finally went home in March 2020 – after 18 months in hospital – having spent much of her time strapped to a bed unable to move her head. The accident also affected her bowel and bladder function. 'I went home in a wheelchair,' she says. 'I'd been told early on that I would never walk again.' After being discharged, Sarra attended weekly physiotherapy at the Neurokinex centre, a not-for-profit organisation providing rehabilitation for people with paralysis in Hemel Hempstead. It was through them she was invited to be part of the Pathfinder trial, which began in March 2021. 'I was keen to try anything,' says Sarra. 'When I was connected to the machine and it was switched on, I'd feel a tingling pins and needles-type of sensation.' At the same time, she did exercises focused on her arms, hands and core. This included 'using a standing frame that supported me in an upright position, I could use a hand bike – where I'd turn pedals with my hands – or lift light dumbbells, for instance'. Sarra hoped for 'little wins', she says: 'I wanted to be able to hold and sip a hot drink from a normal cup without using a straw, which I can now do. 'I can brush my daughter Isla's hair too – but, annoyingly, I can't brush my own as I can't lift my arms high enough. Best of all, I can now sit at the dinner table with my family and feel normal.' Tara Stewart, chair of trustees at the UK charity Spinal Research, which funded the study, and who was paralysed from the chest down after falling from a horse in 2015, believes it is 'a gamechanger'. 'When I had my injury, we were told that a spinal-cord injury was incurable,' she says. 'We now have this system that restores some function. It demonstrates that a spinal-cord injury isn't incurable and at the very least is improvable,' says Tara, who was also on the trial but did not experience any major changes. Mr Baxter is now running a trial called ImPRESS at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital to see if electrically stimulating the base of the spinal cord after an injury can improve bladder and bowel function – as the majority of patients with spinal-cord injury experience significant loss of control of these. 'People can develop recurrent urinary or kidney infections that can cause complications and, in some cases, prove fatal,' he adds. For the trial, 18 paralysed people with bladder and bowel problems will have an electrode, attached to a small battery, implanted under the skin at the base of their spinal cord, where it will deliver electrical impulses to the spinal nerves that control the bowel and bladder. Participants will then carry out 12 weeks of daily pelvic floor exercises. The results will be published next year. Later this month Sarra will be pushed and hauled up Snowdon in her wheelchair by her team of 16 helpers, including family and friends, to fundraise for Back Up, a charity which transforms people's lives after spinal-cord injury. 'Going up Snowdon is something I would never have contemplated before the trial,' she says. 'But the treatment has given me the ability and the confidence to try more things.'
The Independent
01-04-2025
- The Independent
Two killed and one injured in five-minute raid on music video shoot, court told
Two young people were killed and one was seriously injured when masked knifemen launched a five-minute raid on a music video shoot, a court has heard. Leonardo Reid, 15 and Klevi Shekaj, 23, were fatally stabbed and 28-year-old Abdullah Abdullahi survived, but was seriously injured, during the attack in Archway, north London, on the night of June 29 2023. Lorik Lupqi, 21; Jason Furtado, 28; Abel Chunda, 29; Xavier Poponne, 22; and Eden Clark, 30, are on trial at the Old Bailey accused of double murder and attempted murder. Opening the case on Tuesday, Jacob Hallam KC said all of them 'bore responsibility' for the stabbings. That evening, a large group had gathered on the Elthorne Estate to record a music video for an artist called Tight Road Baby. Mr Hallam told jurors: 'The atmosphere was described as being happy, although at times the volume became irritating for some of those who lived nearby and police attended at about 10.20pm. 'After a while, many of those who had been there left the area, although a number of young local people remained in the vicinity.' Lupqi and Furtado had allegedly called on the attack and enlisted Chunda, Clark and Poponne to help. Lupqi booked a taxi to pick up the three men from the area of Furtado's home address in Canonbury, north London, telling the firm: 'I'm in a little bit of a rush', jurors heard. They had donned masks and were armed as they travelled to the Elthorne Estate where they met Lupqi, the court was told. Leonardo and his brother had been watching the music video being filmed with friends, jurors heard. The alarm was raised as a black-clad figure wearing a balaclava was spotted crouching down and moving towards them with a large knife. The friend shouted 'Man on!' as a warning as three more males in black stood up from where they had been hiding behind cars to get close to the group, the court was told. Leonardo's brother ran away but later looped back and saw someone lying motionless on the ground. It was only then that he realised it was his brother, the court heard. Leonardo had been stabbed in the chest, the wound cutting through his left lung and one of the major blood vessels in his body causing fatal blood loss. Mr Shekaj had been stabbed in the back with the wound cutting through his left lung and deep into his body. He was driven to Whittington Hospital by members of the public but he died on arrival. Earlier, Mr Abdullahi had walked past the scene of the recording but did not pay much attention, the court was told. He described to police being attacked by three of four people wearing face coverings when he returned to the area. He ran away but he slipped and fell and was set upon by three attackers who had chased him with machetes, jurors heard. As he tried to get up, he was struck with a machete twice to the right side of his body, to the head and right knee, the court was told. Mr Hallam said: 'He thought he was going to die. He cannot say how long the attack lasted. He then heard one of the group say, 'leave him'.' Mr Abdullahi struggled home and collapsed outside his front door. He had suffered two stab wounds to the right side of the abdomen, a punctured lung, two broken ribs and a fractured diaphragm as well as stab wounds to his head and knee. After the 'murderous' attack, the taxi took Chunda, Poponne, Clark and Lupqi away from the scene to Chunda's home address, the court was told. Jurors were told of lyrics recovered from Poppone's phones in which he allegedly 'glorified' the killings and bragged that he 'got me a trio'. The court heard that Furtado and Lupqi were wearing electronic tags at the time of the attack. Four of the defendants were picked up by police on dates between July 2023 and May 2024. Lupqi, from Archway, cut off his tag and fled to Kosovo. He extradited back to the United Kingdom last November 12 when he too was arrested, the court heard. The defendants have denied two charges of murder and one of attempted murder. Furtado, of Islington, Chunda, of Highgate Hill, and Clark, of no fixed address have also denied a charge of possession of an offensive weapon. Poppone, of Islington, is also charged with two counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs. The Old Bailey trial continues.
