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

When Dan Richards went for a New Yr’s Eve swim in 2023, he by no means may 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 instructed him he could be bed-bound however, two years later, he makes use of a wheelchair and may transfer his arms and fingers.

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

Dan and his accomplice 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 pieces altering,” Dan mentioned.

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

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

“I simply keep in mind wanting over and simply seeing Dan’s head developing 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 providers, 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 instructed he was paralysed kind the neck down, wouldn’t have the ability to transfer and it was “extremely probably” he could be bed-bound for the remainder of his life.

Anna – who had solely began courting Dan a number of months earlier than the accident – needed to make dreaded cellphone calls to members of the family.

“It was New Yr’s Eve, I used to be put in a room by myself however you would 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 every single day for the reason that 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 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 wished to see the physios as quickly as doable. I wished to work. I did not settle for what they have been saying.

“I am happy 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 via my legs and toes, some motion in my proper leg [and] core power – which I used to be instructed was gone – began to return again. Motion in my arms, my fingers, with the ability to maintain issues.

“I am nonetheless hopeful, I am nonetheless constructive. With trendy 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 expertise 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 acquired sensors. The trousers are additionally fitted with electrodes and we are able to stimulate muscle exercise on the proper time.

“By way of slightly little bit of algorithm – and dare I say AI – it should begin growing a strolling sample.

“It is tremendous thrilling. It is not typically that you just see that in Wales.”

Dan mentioned the expertise was “surreal” however “the most effective feeling”.

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

However non-public physiotherapy and modern remedy doesn’t come with out value.

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

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

“It is one of many first occasions it is ever been completed,” he mentioned.

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

“The extra you do it, the stronger the indicators get, the quicker it will get and finally you are capable of stroll with out the swimsuit.”

With six weeks of remedy left in Germany within the new 12 months, Dan must 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 unimaginable. There isn’t a restrict. I do not need there to be a restrict.

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