| 1 | CBS News | Special stem cell treatment for spinal cord injuries shows promise | 64675 | 435 | 42 | 53.5 | negative | 3:04 | An experimental procedure aimed at repairing spinal cord injuries is showing promise. It uses stem cells in the damaged areas in hopes of restoring function and movement. Dr. Don Lapouk has one patient's story. Dr. Don Lapouk has one patient's story. There's nothing we could have done to change that night. On April 9, 2013, James Mason was an accident waiting to happen. He had been drinking and his stepfather, Bob Gamboudi, tried to stop him from driving. He grabbed onto me, I grabbed onto him, pulled my leg out and we fell back and his neck broke. I remember just hitting the ground. I remember the whole way with the stretcher. The most devastating part of the whole process was the first day that he lifted out of a bed and nothing moved. Just his head. That really hit hard. At that point, I really wanted to go jump off a bridge. Mason was left a quadriplegic with just the slightest ability to move his arms. Dr. said he'd never walk again. Gamboudi, a retired cop, became his full-time caregiver and found an experimental trial at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. We'll take good care of you. We spoke with Mason just before he underwent delicate neck surgery to try to repair the damaged portion of his spinal cord by injecting stem cells. And what's going on in your head? What are you thinking? What are you hoping for? I'm just super excited. I just get it done and go back to rehab and start proving the doctor wrong even more. Okay, well. The surgery performed by Dr. Arthur Jenkins took four hours. Researchers have followed James and five other patients all with severe spinal cord injuries. Squeeze as hard as you can. We met up three months after the surgery. Notice any change? Yeah, my wrist has gotten a lot stronger. I'm able to grasp around a lot of other things. And after another three months? I think it's almost doubled with how much I've gotten better and the sensation back into my feet. I can feel pressure onto them throughout my legs. And they've noticed that I have a little bit of movement into my hips now. Today, the company sponsoring the trial reported four of the six patients experienced improvement in both muscle strength and function. Try pulling the thumb towards me. Dr. Jenkins, who is not affiliated with the company, has continued to monitor Mason. My two senses, it worked. That this actually changed his neurologic recovery and function. That his actual functional improvement is from the stem cells that were injected. Mason does not blame his stepfather for the accident. In fact, he's grateful. If I'd gotten in my car, I could have killed someone else, someone's mother, someone's father, someone's child. I wouldn't, if I would have survived through that, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself with that. It's tough and people say, oh, I'm sorry. Don't be sorry. I still have him here. Mason believes the stem cells accelerated his recovery, but it's hard to know what would have happened without them. More research will be needed to try to establish whether they actually repair damage to the spinal cord. Dr. John LaPouque, CBS News, New York. | ↗ |