Emotional reunion at Queen’s Hospital

Tue 5th January 2010 2.26PM

THERE was an emotional reunion at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex, when a man left paralysed following a car crash walked into a room to thank the surgeon who changed his life. Aaron Timms was a passenger in a car which crashed in September last year. His girlfriend and his best friend were killed. The 22-year-old was the only survivor, but had broken his back and suffered major damage to his spinal chord. Totally paralysed from the waist down, Aaron had no feeling in his legs, and medics could not say if he would ever walk again. “It was absolutely terrifying. I can’t even describe it,” said Aaron. The crash happened in West Bergholt, and Aaron had been taken to Colchester General Hospital. They made the decision to airlift him to Queen’s for specialist surgery.

Consultant neurosurgeon Karoly David carried out intricate surgery to repair Aaron’s back, repositioning the spine to free the trapped spinal chord. Aaron had suffered extensive damage to his nervous system and lost spinal fluid. The operation was a success, but with so many complex injuries, the weeks following the operation would be critical. “Mr David did an incredible job,” said Aaron. “But we still didn’t know what the outcome would be.” Aaron spent three weeks recovering from the surgery at Queen’s before being transferred to Stoke Mandeville Hospital for specialist rehabilitation. Six weeks after his operation, Aaron had a breakthrough. “I could feel a little pulse in a muscle in my leg.

People were worried that I might me imagining it, but I knew it was there.” Aaron astonished his parents Steve and Jane with his determination to walk again. “There was just no stopping him,” said Jane. “Right from the beginning he used to visualise himself walking, and he carried out his exercises again and again and again.” The crash that paralysed Aaron and killed the people he loved took place on September 22 last year. He stayed in Stoke Mandeville until February 16th. But this month he walked into Queen’s Hospital to shake the hand of his surgeon. His rehabilittaion was a long process from learning to stand again, to walking with a frame, and then stepping out unaided. But with barely a limp, Aaron is back on his feet and starting a new life.

He has just moved into his own home. And, after months of intensive therapy, has decided to leave his old career as a mechanic and retrain as a physiotherapist. Aaron’s parents also came back to meet Mr David. Mum Jane told him: “I have waited for nearly a year to shake your hand. “We can never thank you enough for what you did.”