Team Canuk

Paul Knox, 49, my brother, was in the process of making a new start in Portugal when he slipped and suffered his spinal cord injury. Unfortunately, Paul had gone on to fracture his C4 vertebrae, leaving him with little or no movement from the shoulders down and compromising his breathing. Fortunately Paul’s neighbour Manuel returned earlier than scheduled and was able to call the emergency services who stabilised Paul at the local hospital. He was then airlifted to a more specialist centre. Because of Covid restrictions, Paul’s rehabilitation and importantly his contact with son, sister, brother and friends was limited. Initially, unable to talk because of his tracheostomy, Paul had to breakthrough the language barrier with his Portuguese medical staff simply by blinking. Now, Paul is in a nursing home and has now finally received an electric wheelchair."I'm so looking forward to being more independent again. I still struggle with things like managing my temperature control, so it’s great to see that Spinal Research focused on developing treatments to improve these hidden functions as they will make a real difference to my life. ”