--- title: Paralyzed Man Walks Again after Miracle Surgery description: Polish doctors used cells from patient's nose to heal spinal injury canonical: https://time.com/3527634/paralyzed-man-walks-miracle-surgery/ author: Naina Bajekal article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-21T10:39:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:54:38.817Z article:section: Health og:title: A paralyzed man walks again after miracle surgery og:description: New technique offers hope for millions og:url: https://time.com/3527634/paralyzed-man-walks-miracle-surgery/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A paralyzed man walks again after miracle surgery twitter:description: New technique offers hope for millions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Paralyzed Man Walks Again After 'Miracle' Surgery  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Oct 21, 2014 10:39 AM CUT  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Oct 21, 2014 10:39 AM CUT A man who was completely paralyzed from the waist down has learned to walk again after Polish doctors transplanted cells from the patient’s nose into the damaged part of his spine. This pioneering research offers hope for treatment to millions of people around the world with spinal cord injuries. The patient, 38-year-old firefighter Darek Fidyka from Poland, was left with a completely severed spinal cord after being stabbed four years ago. His doctors had given him a less than 1% chance of recovery but thanks to revolutionary surgery carried out in 2012 Fidyka is now able to walk again with a frame. “It’s an incredible feeling, difficult to describe,” he recounts in a BBC documentary to be aired Tuesday “When it starts coming back, you feel as if you start living your life again, as if you are reborn.” Fidyka has been able to resume an independent life and is even able to drive a car. The procedure was carried out by Polish surgeons in collaboration with British researchers at University College London. Professor Geoffrey Raisman, who led the U.K. research team, called the breakthrough “historic” and said what had been achieved was “more impressive than man walking on the moon.” \[[BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29645760 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3527634/paralyzed-man-walks-miracle-surgery/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3527634/paralyzed-man-walks-miracle-surgery/"},"headline":"Paralyzed Man Walks Again After 'Miracle' Surgery","datePublished":"2014-10-21T10:39:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:54:38.817Z","description":"Polish doctors used cells from patient's nose to heal spinal injury","url":"https://time.com/3527634/paralyzed-man-walks-miracle-surgery/","keywords":["Surgery","health","uk","Poland"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naina Bajekal","jobTitle":"Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/surgery/","name":"Surgery"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3527634/paralyzed-man-walks-miracle-surgery/","name":"Paralyzed Man Walks Again After 'Miracle' Surgery"}}]}] ```