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Paralysed man gets 'second chance at life' following surgery

Adam Mandeville
BBC News NI
BBC A young man with dark hair and facial hair sits, smiling at the camera. He is dressed in a grey hoodie and sweatpants. He is outside.BBC
Yousaf Ghaffar said he has been given a chance to live a "relatively normal life"

A County Mayo man who was paralysed in a car crash has been given a chance to live a "relatively normal life" thanks to what surgeons are calling ground-breaking surgery.

Yousaf Ghaffar was told he would never walk again following the collision in 2022.

At just 18, the student was paralysed from the waist down - until surgery last year.

Mr Ghaffar is now able to stand and walk several hundred steps with the aid of a robotic suit after doctors implanted a spinal cord stimulator.

Yousaf Ghaffar Two people stand, smiling at the camera. The man on the left has dark hair and facial hair. He is wearing a grey hoodie and is leaning on a black contraption. The woman on the right has dark hair and is also wearing a grey hoodie. Yousaf Ghaffar
Yousaf Ghaffar with his physiotherapist Eweline Sypniewska

Mr Ghaffar was injured outside Letterkenny, County Donegal, where he is a student.

He had joined his friend for a drive near the town when the car he was travelling in was involved in a crash.

He does not remember much about what happened.

"When I woke up, I tried to get out of the car, but I couldn't move my legs," he said.

"One second I had just finished college, and the next I'm being rushed to the hospital in Dublin."

'It didn't feel real'

Yousaf Ghaffar A man sits in a wheelchair, smiling. The man has dark hair and facial hair and is wearing a navy suit with a blue tie and a white shirt. He is in a changing room booth and on his right there is a rack of suit jackets with a price tag above them. Yousaf Ghaffar
Yousaf Ghaffar was told he would never be able to walk again

When Mr Ghaffar asked a doctor if he would ever be able to walk again, he got a "disappointing look" in return.

"That's where I got my answer," he said.

"You always see people in wheelchairs. You never truly think of what would happen if you can't walk.

"I never thought of that before until this accident actually happened.

"You go from being a fully independent college student, to being completely dependent. It didn't feel real."

Prof Kirk Levins Five people smile at the camera. On the left, a shorter man with dark hair wearing blue hospital scrubs. On his right, a taller man with dark hair wearing a navy jumper and black jeans. In the middle, a man wearing a black hoodie and black tracksuit bottoms sits in a wheelchair. On his right, a woman with dark hair stands wearing a black and white patterned top. On her right, a blonder woman in a white t-shirt crouches next to the man in the wheelchair. The five people are in a long white corridor which is lit with harsh lighting. Prof Kirk Levins
Staff at St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin believe that the procedure may be the first of its kind

Unbeknown to Mr Ghaffar, consultant pain specialist Prof Kirk Levins was in the process of developing a surgical procedure that would change his life.

"The story started four years ago when I met a like-minded researcher at a conference in Barcelona," said Prof Levins.

He spent the next few years researching and developing the procedure.

"The way the surgery works is [a spinal cord stimulator] supplies that little bit of an extra boost to the spinal cord to make dormant pathways come alive again."

He added that the surgery had been "experimental".

"This was the first time this surgery has ever been done in this manner," he said.

'Biggest moment of career'

Professor Kirk Levins A close-up x-ray image of what looks like a spine with two black wires running through it.Professor Kirk Levins
An X-ray of Mr Ghaffar's spine during the operation which shows the insertion of the spinal cord stimulator

During Mr Ghaffar's surgery rigid wire leads were inserted through an epidural needle to stimulate the spinal cord at a specific frequency and location.

The results were instant, said the surgeon.

"The biggest moment of my career was after the surgery when Yousaf was in the recovery bay," he said.

"We were trying to fine tune the device, and all of a sudden Yousaf started to move.

"That was the big 'wow' moment of this whole journey."

'The results are absolutely phenomenal'

St Vincents Hospital A man walking down a corridor with a black metal device strapped across his legs and torso. He is wearing a grey tracksuit and black trainers. He is holding a walking frame with both of his hands. A man and a woman are standing on either side of him, the woman has her hands on his back. In front of him there is a wheelchair. Behind him further down the corridor a woman wearing a black dress watches on with her arms folded.St Vincents Hospital
Mr Ghaffar has been relearning how to walk with the aid of an exoskeleton

Since the operation, Mr Ghaffar has been relearning how to walk with the aid of an exoskeleton, but hopes one day he will be able to walk independently.

Staff at St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin, where the procedure took place, believe it may be the first of its kind.

"No-one has ever reported a return of sensation and such a rapid return of movement as Yousaf has experienced," said Prof Levins.

"It has taken a long time to get here. Four years, meetings at three o'clock in the morning, it has been a busy time.

"The results are absolutely phenomenal."

A young man with dark hair and facial hair sits, smiling at the camera. He is dressed in a grey hoodie and sweatpants. He is outside.
Yousaf Ghaffar said the surgery surpassed his expectations

Prof Levins said he hoped the procedure would mean that, for some people, paralysis would be a "temporary condition".

"The only barriers at this stage are further research, financial considerations and training of surgeons to do this," he said.

"It has the potential to change so many people's lives.

"It's great to be able to help people in such a dramatic fashion."

Mr Ghaffar said that, thanks to the operation, he could now live a "relatively normal life".

"I am driving, I go to college, I make friends, I go out with them. I do everything every able-bodied person is able to do," he said.

He said the surgery surpassed his expectations.

"It was one of those moments that you just can't describe. The way you feel, the emotions, you just can't explain."