Swansea man paralysed by wave says AI could help him walk again

When Dan Richards went for a New 12 months’s Eve swim in 2023, he by no means might have imagined how drastically his life would change.

In a freak accident, he injured his neck when a wave caused him to flip and hit the sand in Langland Bay, Swansea.

“I knew immediately that I used to be paralysed,” the 37-year-old mentioned.

“I could not transfer something.”

Medical doctors advised him he can be bed-bound however, two years later, he makes use of a wheelchair and might transfer his arms and fingers.

He has even walked with the assistance of Synthetic Intelligence (AI) know-how in Wales and Germany.

Dan and his associate Anna, 40, have been celebrating the brand new 12 months with a chilly water dip when the accident occurred.

“I keep in mind all of it, sadly. Being pulled out. After which all the things altering,” Dan mentioned.

“I bought hit by a wave, it flipped me over and folded me backwards, and snapped my neck. I knew it was unhealthy.”

Anna recalled listening to Dan shouting for assist as she bought able to get into the water.

“I simply keep in mind trying over and simply seeing Dan’s head arising after which going again beneath,” she mentioned.

“We dragged him out. However he was simply useless weight and the ocean was coming in actually quick.

“We waited for emergency companies, after which [I remember] begging them to let me go within the helicopter. It was horrendous.”

After being taken to hospital in Bristol, the couple from Swansea got life-changing information.

Dan mentioned he was advised he was paralysed type the neck down, wouldn’t be capable to transfer and it was “extremely probably” he can be bed-bound for the remainder of his life.

Anna – who had solely began courting Dan just a few months earlier than the accident – needed to make dreaded cellphone calls to relations.

“It was New 12 months’s Eve, I used to be put in a room by myself however you can hear folks laughing and joking, and I needed to inform Dan’s mother and father.

“How do you cellphone somebody’s mum and say that their son is paralysed?”

Anna mentioned each day because the accident has introduced a brand new problem.

“It is our actuality. Till you are on this scenario… you do not realise simply how a lot you’ve got misplaced.”

However within the months that adopted the accident, when Dan was in hospital, even the slightest motion in his toes gave the couple hope issues would change.

“Fortunately I am fairly cussed,” Dan mentioned.

“I simply needed to see the physios as quickly as doable. I needed to work. I did not settle for what they have been saying.

“I am pleased with the progress I’ve made. It is a very long time since laying in mattress in Bristol, that is for positive.”

He continued: “The sensation in my toes then translated into full feeling by my legs and toes, some motion in my proper leg [and] core energy – which I used to be advised was gone – began to return again. Motion in my arms, my fingers, having the ability to maintain issues.

“I am nonetheless hopeful, I am nonetheless constructive. With fashionable applied sciences, I am not giving up.”

Dan had non-public physiotherapy at a specialist clinic in south Wales which used a world-first mixed remedy to assist him stroll with a machine.

Jakko Brouwers, a neurophysiotherapist from Morello clinic in Newport, mentioned Dan was “an immensely motivated man” when he visited them after being discharged from hospital.

“The know-how is two-fold,” he defined.

“The primary half we tried with Dan is a robotic. The robotic will mimic regular human gait as a lot as doable.

“The opposite a part of the system that we developed is a stimulation swimsuit that has bought sensors. The trousers are additionally fitted with electrodes and we will stimulate muscle exercise on the proper time.

“By just a little little bit of algorithm – and dare I say AI – it would begin creating a strolling sample.

“It is tremendous thrilling. It isn’t typically that you just see that in Wales.”

Dan mentioned the expertise was “surreal” however “the perfect feeling”.

“It simply made me need to push more durable. That is on our doorstep right here in Wales, so it spurred us on to do a little analysis, and do different issues.”

However non-public physiotherapy and progressive remedy doesn’t come with out price.

From raffles to ultramarathons and charity nights, household and associates have fundraised which means Dan and Anna might set off for a trial overseas in October.

Dan defined he was attempting two completely different remedies concurrently in Germany – a stem cell remedy straight into his spinal twine, alongside utilizing a Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) swimsuit, which is a machine that works on mind waves.

“It is one of many first instances it is ever been performed,” he mentioned.

“Sensors translate alerts into motion, which then get my legs working, get me strolling.

“The extra you do it, the stronger the alerts get, the quicker it will get and ultimately you are in a position to stroll with out the swimsuit.”

With six weeks of remedy left in Germany within the new 12 months, Dan should apply for an EU Medical Visa, which is one other problem he mentioned he’s decided to beat.

He doesn’t know what the longer term holds, however is set not to surrender.

“Expertise is advancing so quick, issues aren’t the place they have been 10 years in the past.

“New analysis is unbelievable. There is no such thing as a restrict. I do not need there to be a restrict.

“The extra progress I could make now, the higher our future will likely be.”