Dads anonymous

19 May 2011 Last updated at 23:55 GMT By Paul Henley BBC News, Copenhagen Kellie Lombard's family has three children by the same Danish sperm donor Selecting a potential father for your children, it turns out, is not unlike shopping online.

"A lot of our clients typically want their donor to be at least 180cm [5ft 11in] tall and have blue eyes," says Peter Bower, director of Nordic Cryobank, who is showing me his database of sperm donors.

Customers narrow their computer search to eliminate men who are under or over a certain weight in kilos.

They can click on a candidate's profile and, for a fee, download an audio interview and a photograph of him as a baby.

Staff also provide a few sentences giving their impression of donors - a physical description or an illuminating detail, Mr Bower says, such as "that he enjoys chatting in the lab after he has donated, dresses nicely or is very interested in a particular sort of music".

Insemination destination

But crucially, none of the information will identify an individual, unless he has chosen to be traceable.

In Denmark, sperm donation does not have to come with a name and telephone number - unlike in Britain and in a fast-increasing number of other European countries.

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We hope to create a tranquil atmosphere that will give people a good memory of the place where their baby's story began”

End Quote Lilian Joergensen Nurse at insemination clinic That has made Denmark something of a Mecca for foreign women who want to conceive by artificial insemination, because it has no shortage of officially screened and tested semen.

Danish clinics which provide insemination (often for a fraction of the price of similar treatment in the UK) have three main types of customer: lesbian couples, heterosexual couples and single women. It is the final category which is growing - by far - the fastest.

Peter Bower says single British women are "at the forefront" in choosing this service, but foreign uptake in general is booming. According to the latest figures from the Danish Department of Health, in 2008 2,694 non-Danish women came to Aarhus and Copenhagen for insemination, while in 2010 that number leapt to 4,665.

Samples are delivered from the sperm bank to the aptly named Stork Klinik, across Copenhagen, in the industry's latest gimmick; a bicycle in the shape of a single sperm cell. Deep-frozen in liquid nitrogen, the samples are stored in the spherical head of the sperm, just in front of the handlebars.

Lilian Joergensen is the nurse in charge at the clinic, where women come to be inseminated.

The premises are the epitome of Scandinavian design chic.

"We want the women to feel like queens," she says, pointing to a small wooden crown on the wall above the bed where the insemination is done.

Samples are delivered to the insemination clinic via... sperm bike

"We hope to create a tranquil atmosphere that will give people a good memory of the place where their baby's story began. Some days we might have 17 inseminations but it's very important to have the same time and attention for every woman.

"We hear her history, her problems, take her mood into account. She must not be a number in a system. She comes here, uses this room as her own, brings a friend, brings candles, whatever she wants."

In their home in New Malden in south London, Kellie Lombard and her partner bear witness to the success of the Danish approach.

Ms Lombard had several expensive but unsuccessful attempts to conceive by sperm donor in Britain and one in South Africa.

She and her partner found out about the Danish option on the internet and now have a family consisting of two mothers, identical twin boys who are nearly five months old, and a girl of two, all fathered by the same anonymous Danish man.

'Tall daddy'

Ms Lombard jokes about the criteria on which their choice of father was based.

"We were originally looking for David Beckham," she says, "but we also wanted someone with lots of academic qualifications."

In fact, they know a surprising amount about the man who is their children's biological father: his age, weight, the fact that he is a medical student, and what he looks like.

Most intriguingly for them, they know what he sounds like as an audio recording was available of him explaining why he was donating - his principal motivation was money - and they thought he sounded like a nice person.

They have now bought up the full legal UK allocation of his sperm. Only a very small number of donations per man are allowed in each country, to limit the chances of half-siblings unknowingly pairing in future.

Ms Lombard's family is an unusual one, she admits. When she takes her extremely Scandinavian-looking daughter to the park, people often ask whether her "daddy" is very tall. Ms Lombard just replies that he is - 6ft 4in, in fact.

If this new European trend in insemination continues, Nordic genes could become more widespread than many would suspect.

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'Face death head-on'

20 May 2011 Last updated at 07:27 GMT By Keri Thomas Professor of end of life care, University of Birmingham Death will, as ever, come to us all. But in this week's Scrubbing Up, end of life expert Professor Keri Thomas says it is time to face up to the need to plan properly for our demise.

As we are frequently reminded, we are in an ageing society and we live and die differently now.

Previously, most people died from accident, infection or childbirth having been previously well. This is still the way that many die in developing countries- from HIV, TB, infant diarrhoea, and trauma.

Over the last century the way we die has changed - most of us now dying later from more predictable gradual decline of one or many of our organs.

Previously we could be death-fearing or death-denying - now we have to be death-aware and "death-prepared".

For the first time therefore we have a chance , not only to know that one day we will die, but to prepare for it and to live in the context of our dying.

For many, death is still seen as failure as we perform futile heroics, postponing the inevitable whilst providing inadequate support for those at this crucial time in their lives.

How can we hold the balance of striving to prevent avoidable early death, yet facing its imminent reality by better supporting people at this vital time?

Good preparation

The answer is, in part, to listen harder.

When asked, most people say they want to live, and live as well as possible until they die.

We then want to die well in the place and manner of our choosing with those we wish to be with, peacefully, with dignity, having done all we need to do and made good preparations for our final journey.

That is the essence of advance care planning and the movement to improve end of life care for all, of which I and many colleagues are involved.

It does not inevitably lead to an attempt to control death through euthanasia, but it is a fervent desire to affirm life, supporting people to live well until they die and to get it right when the time eventually comes to die.

It is time we face our own mortality head-on.

Surely we must firstly admit that this is going to hit us all; secondly, make strategic practical plans at every level to be prepared; and thirdly, initiate our own personal plans.

Dying matters

The majority of those working in health and social care who deal with people nearing the end of life are not specialists, but generalist frontline staff doing the best they can with the resources they have.

Like the rest of us, they find it difficult to tackle the taboo subject of death and dying.

And yet, if people are not given the opportunity to discuss their preferences for how and where they would like to be cared for, the chances of fulfilling those wishes are inevitably reduced.

Advance care planning can play a major part in improving the care a person will receive.

Although in essence it is a considered discussion with family, friends and professional carers, it works best as part of a process of planning leading to the delivery of quality care in alignment with peoples' wishes.

We need to deliver better end-of-life care for all in every setting, and to have more discussions of matters related to death and dying.

There is much good work already going on, but more still to do.

This week is the national 'Dying Matters' awareness week, and next month we will hold our annual GSF meeting as part of the International Society for Advance Care Planning and End of Life Care conference, being held in London.

The NHS also has the National End of Life Care Programme, which works with health and social care providers across England to improve adult end of life care.

By actively and bravely living with dying and planning ahead, nationally, locally and personally, we might be able to affirm the full value of life so that "when our time comes to die, dying is all we have left to do".

If we get it right for the dying, we get it right for the living too.

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Unwanted babies

23 May 2011 Last updated at 00:19 GMT India's 2011 census shows a serious decline in the number of girls under the age of seven - activists fear eight million female foetuses may have been aborted in the past decade. The BBC's Geeta Pandey in Delhi explores what has led to this crisis.

Kulwant has three daughters aged 24, 23 and 20 and a son who is 16.

In the years between the birth of her third daughter and her son, Kulwant became pregnant three times.

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My mother-in-law said if I had a daughter, my husband would leave me. Thankfully, I had a son.”

End Quote Deepali Sah Health worker Each time, she says, she was forced to abort the foetus by her family after ultrasound tests confirmed that they were girls.

"My mother-in-law taunted me for giving birth to girls. She said her son would divorce me if I didn't bear a son."

Kulwant still has vivid memories of the first abortion. "The baby was nearly five months old. She was beautiful. I miss her, and the others we killed," she says, breaking down, wiping away her tears.

Until her son was born, Kulwant's daily life consisted of beatings and abuse from her husband, mother-in-law and brother-in-law. Once, she says, they even attempted to set her on fire.

"They were angry. They didn't want girls in the family. They wanted boys so they could get fat dowries," she says.

India outlawed dowries in 1961, but the practice remains rampant and the value of dowries is constantly growing, affecting rich and poor alike.

Kulwant's husband died three years after the birth of their son. "It was the curse of the daughters we killed. That's why he died so young," she says.

Common attitude

Continue reading the main story

How girls are valued varies widely across India. Over the years, most states in the south and north-east have been kind to their girls, and sex ratios are above the national average.

In the matrilineal societies of Kerala and Karnataka in the south and Meghalaya in the north-east, women have enjoyed high status and commanded respect. But the latest census figures show the good news even in these areas could be turning bad. A minor decline in the number of girls has begun in the three states which, campaigners worry, might be indicative of a trend.

What is seen as most distressing is the steep decline in the number of girls under seven in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh and in Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura in the north-east. Even though these states have registered numbers much higher than the national average, the decline is too substantial to ignore.

But all is not lost. Some states, such as Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh - which saw the gap between numbers of boys and girls widen in 2001 - have shown an improvement. That is cause for some cheer, campaigners say.

Her neighbour Rekha is mother of a chubby three-year-old girl.

Last September, when she became pregnant again, her mother-in-law forced her to undergo an abortion after an ultrasound showed that she was pregnant with twin girls.

"I said there's no difference between girls and boys. But here they think differently. There's no happiness when a girl is born. They say the son will carry forward our lineage, but the daughter will get married and go off to another family."

Kulwant and Rekha live in Sagarpur, a lower middle-class area in south-west Delhi.

Here, narrow minds live in homes separated by narrow lanes.

The women's story is common and repeated in millions of homes across India, and it has been getting worse.

In 1961, for every 1,000 boys under the age of seven, there were 976 girls. Today, the figure has dropped to a dismal 914 girls.

Although the number of women overall is improving (due to factors such as life expectancy), India's ratio of young girls to boys is one of the worst in the world after China.

Many factors come into play to explain this: infanticide, abuse and neglect of girl children.

But campaigners say the decline is largely due to the increased availability of antenatal sex screening, and they talk of a genocide.

The government has been forced to admit that its strategy has failed to put an end to female foeticide.

'National shame'

"Whatever measures have been put in over the past 40 years have not had any impact on the child sex ratio," Home Secretary GK Pillai said when the census report was released.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described female foeticide and infanticide as a "national shame" and called for a "crusade" to save girl babies.

But Sabu George, India's best-known campaigner on the issue, says the government has so far shown little determination to stop the practices.

Campaigners say India's strategy to protect female babies is not working

Until 30 years ago, he says, India's sex ratio was "reasonable". Then in 1974, Delhi's prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences came out with a study which said sex-determination tests were a boon for Indian women.

It said they no longer needed to produce endless children to have the right number of sons, and it encouraged the determination and elimination of female foetuses as an effective tool of population control.

"By late 80s, every newspaper in Delhi was advertising for ultrasound sex determination," said Mr George.

"Clinics from Punjab were boasting that they had 10 years' experience in eliminating girl children and inviting parents to come to them."

In 1994, the Pre-Natal Determination Test (PNDT) Act outlawed sex-selective abortion. In 2004, it was amended to include gender selection even at the pre-conception stage.

Abortion is generally legal up to 12 weeks' gestation. Sex can be determined by a scan from about 14 weeks.

"What is needed is a strict implementation of the law," says Varsha Joshi, director of census operations for Delhi. "I find there's absolutely no will on the part of the government to stop this."

Today, there are 40,000 registered ultrasound clinics in the country, and many more exist without any record.

'Really sad'

Ms Joshi, a former district commissioner of south-west Delhi, says there are dozens of ultrasound clinics in the area. It has the worst child sex ratio in the capital - 836 girls under seven for every 1,000 boys.

Delhi's overall ratio is not much better at 866 girls under seven for every 1,000 boys.

"It's really sad. We are the capital of the country and we have such a poor ratio," Ms Joshi says.

The south-west district shares its boundary with Punjab and Haryana, the two Indian states with the worst sex ratios.

Since the last census, Punjab and Haryana have shown a slight improvement. But Delhi has registered a decline.

"Something's really wrong here and something has to be done to put things right," Ms Joshi says.

Almost all the ultrasound clinics in the area have the mandatory board outside, proclaiming that they do not carry out illegal sex-determination tests.

But the women in Sagarpur say most people here know where to go when they need an ultrasound or an abortion.

They say anyone who wants to get a foetal ultrasound done, gets it done. In the five-star clinics of south Delhi it costs 10,000-plus rupees ($222; ?135), In the remote peripheral areas of Delhi's border, it costs a few hundred rupees.

Similarly, the costs vary for those wanting an illegal abortion.

Delhi is not alone in its anti-girl bias. Sex ratios have declined in 17 states in the past decade, with the biggest falls registered in Jammu and Kashmir.

Ms Joshi says most offenders are members of the growing middle-class and affluent Indians - they are aware that the technology exists and have the means to pay to find out the sex of their baby and abort if they choose.

"We have to take effective steps to control the promotion of sex determination by the medical community. And file cases against doctors who do it," Mr George says.

"Otherwise by 2021, we are frightened to think what it will be like."

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Brisk walks fight prostate cancer

24 May 2011 Last updated at 16:07 GMT By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News Walks must be brisk to have an effect, the experts believe Men who have been recently diagnosed with prostate cancer can help keep their disease at bay by taking brisk walks, claim researchers.

Based on their observations, men who power walk for at least three hours a week can halve how much their cancer will grow and spread over the next couple of years.

Strolling does not have the same effect, Cancer Research journal warns.

Experts say it shows that keeping active can improve health.

But they say the findings should be interpreted with caution because the men who did more walking also tended to be younger, leaner, and non-smokers, which could also explain some of the differences seen.

Leg work

The University of California San Francisco study looked at the outcomes of 1,455 men, mostly in their 60s, who were diagnosed with "localised" prostate cancer, meaning it had not yet started to spread.

The men were asked to say how much exercise and of what type they took in the average week.

During the 31 months of follow up, the US researchers recorded 117 events, including disease recurrence, bone tumours and deaths specifically caused by prostate cancer.

And they found that men who walked briskly for at least three hours a week were far less likely to have one of these events.

The brisk walkers had a 57% rate of progression of disease than men who walked at an easy pace for less than three hours a week.

Lead researcher Erin Richman said: "It appears that men who walk briskly after their diagnosis may delay or even prevent progression of their disease.

"The benefit from walking truly depended on how quickly you walked. Walking at an easy pace did not seem to have any benefit.

"Walking is something everyone can and should do to improve their health."

The scientists believe power walking might affect prostate cancer progression by changing blood levels of certain proteins that have been shown in the lab to encourage cancer growth.

Dr Helen Rippon, head of research management at The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: "Although this research will need to be repeated to make sure the results can be applied to all men with prostate cancer, we would certainly advise men diagnosed with prostate cancer to ensure that their lifestyle includes a good amount of physical activity - and walking is often the easiest way of achieving this."

Liz Woolf of Cancer Research UK said: "We know there are many benefits to exercise and that it can help people to recover more quickly after cancer treatment but it's difficult to set specific levels of exercise as everyone's needs and abilities are different.

"Just to be safe, it is important that people with cancer check with their doctor before taking up any new form of exercise."

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Radical step

23 May 2011 Last updated at 08:59 GMT New York is introducing an outdoor smoking ban. But could the UK and other countries follow suit, asks Tom de Castella.

It is a city heralded for attracting incomers from around the world, but New York has just become less hospitable to one group - smokers.

Under measures approved by local authorities, swathes of outdoor public places including beaches, municipal parks and even Times Square have become tobacco-free.

And with smoking legislations, as with so much else, where New York leads, the rest of the world can find itself following.

After the city banned smoking in restaurants, bars and clubs in 2003 - itself following Los Angeles, which introduced similar curbs a decade earlier - it helped drive a global trend.

France, India, Ireland and Italy were among the nations which introduced bans after New York. Scotland prohibited smoking in enclosed public spaces in 2006 and the rest of the UK followed the year after.

So it is not surprising that the latest development in New York is attracting global interest.

As a result of the ban, New Yorkers could face fines if they light up outdoors

The city's latest anti-smoking measures cover public golf courses and sports grounds as well as plazas like Herald Square.

Smoking will be allowed on pavements outside parks, and car parks in public parks. One area the ban does not cover is "median strips" - known as the central reservation in the UK - the sliver of land in the middle of a large road.

City authorities say they hope the new law will be enforced by New Yorkers themselves. But if someone refuses to stop, the public is advised to inform park wardens, and should someone refuse to stop smoking they could be fined.

The New York ban itself comes after Spain outlawed smoking near hospitals or in school playgrounds from January 2011. But whether other countries follow suit largely depends, of course, on whether the move proves effective.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office has cited studies suggesting that sitting three feet away from a smoker outdoors can expose people to the same passive smoking risk as would occur indoors.

Not all those who oppose smoking believe the ban is justified, however.

Continue reading the main story Tom Geoghegan BBC News, Washington DC

Many New Yorkers remain unaware of the new ban but among those most affected - smokers - there is a great deal of anger.

They say the science behind the mayor's passive smoking fears is false and the ban unenforceable. A public flouting of the law is planned at Brighton Beach in Brooklyn on Saturday, when smokers will gather for a group puff.

One invoked the civil rights movement when she described it to me as "our Rosa Parks moment".

In a country which is very sensitive to any sign of government intrusion in their lives, there are some non-smokers who also believe this represents a step too far.

Earlier in the year, the New York Times newspaper, which supported the initial law, said its extension takes "the mayor's nannying too far".

Michael Siegel, professor of community health sciences at Boston University, wrote in the New York Times that the ban was "pointless" from a public health perspective and could, in fact, increase the risk of passive smoking by creating "smoke-filled areas" near park entrances.

Whichever way the debate in New York is resolved, it will be watched closely abroad. Prof John Britton, chair of the Royal College of Physicians Tobacco Advisory Group, says the very existence of the ban could have an impact on countries like the UK.

He says the risks of second-hand smoke outdoors are "quite small unless you're right next to the smoker".

However, Prof Britton believes that seeing such a system in operation would convince those who might otherwise argue that such legislation would be unworkable.

"They did it when smoking on the London Underground was banned [in the 1980s]," he says. "Then they did it with the smoking ban in July 2007. But once it comes in, not only do people accept it, they say 'Why didn't we do it before?'"

Indeed, smoking bans are coming into effect in countries where observers would not have easily imagined citizens giving up their cigarettes.

China - home to one-third of the world's smokers - outlawed smoking in bars, restaurants and buses from 1 May 2011 and Russia plans to implement similar legislation from 2015.

This July will be the fourth anniversary of the ban on smoking in public places having reached all parts of the UK.

In the year following its introduction, more than two billion fewer cigarettes were smoked and 400,000 people quit, according to researchers at University College London.

Continue reading the main story Australia - Smoking banned in airports, workplaces, government offices, health clinicsIndia - Ban on smoking in public places introduced in October 2008. Direct and indirect advertising of tobacco is also forbiddenRussia - Plans to outlaw advertising and promotion of cigarettes in 2011 and smoking in enclosed spaces by 2015Spain - Already had tough anti-smoking restrictions, but in 2011 these were extended to open areas near hospitals, schools and children's playgroundsSyria - In 2010, became the first Arab country state to ban smoking in public places including restaurants, cinemas, theatres and on public transport. The restrictions apply to the nargile, or hubble-bubble pipeAs a result, the UK smoking lobby is watching developments across the Atlantic with trepidation.

Simon Clark, director of Forest, which campaigns against smoking bans, believes the New York initiative is "ludicrous" and that there is no evidence that anyone is at risk as a result of someone else smoking in the open air.

Some political leaders in the British Isles have already begun looking at tightening the law further.

In March 2011, the public health department in Jersey said it was considering whether to ban smoking in all motor vehicles on the island.

Martin Dockrell, director of research and policy at the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), acknowledges that there is no clear evidence of a significant harm to health from second-hand outdoor tobacco smoke.

But he says there are compelling reasons for banning smoking in some outdoor areas, such as children's play parks, as a means of shifting long-term attitudes.

And he argues that if such a ban is put into place, it will not be due to the influence of New York - but because the tide of UK public opinion has hardened against smoking.

"It already has happened in the UK," he says. "Glasgow has smoke-free parks. In the north-west of England there are a number of parks that have gone smoke-free.

"We'll see more of this incrementally as more and more communities become non-smoking."

Smokers and non-smokers alike will make up their own minds in the months ahead.

What remains to be seen is not just whether the new ban can make it in New York, but whether it can make it anywhere.

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Woman attends A&E for broken nail

24 May 2011 Last updated at 14:51 GMT A woman turned up at a Kent accident and emergency department seeking treatment for a broken fingernail, an NHS trust has revealed.

NHS West Kent said the woman, who attended the A&E over a recent bank holiday, was "not admitted and politely sent on her way".

The trust said another person asked to be admitted because their new tattoo was red and sore.

It is urging people to think carefully before they seek emergency treatment.

NHS West Kent, which said it had experienced a 7% increase in patient numbers over the past two bank holidays, warned that people with minor ailments could stop others from getting "life-saving care".

'Think twice'

A&E staff were also asked to hand out repeat prescriptions, according to the trust.

Nikki Luffingham, of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, said: "Please think twice this bank holiday before seeking emergency care for minor ailments.

"Our A&E departments are highly specialised places for patients who need urgent medical attention and potentially life-saving care.

"By seeking the right kind of care, you are not just helping yourself but dozens of other people we will be seeing in our A&E departments at the same time who really need our help."

NHS West Kent has urged people to contact NHS Direct to find out what service would be appropriate.

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Paralysed man can move legs again

19 May 2011 Last updated at 23:42 GMT By James Gallagher Health reporter, BBC News Mr Summers: ''The moment I stood up, I was in disbelief''

A US man who was paralysed from the chest down after being hit by a car is now able to stand with electrical stimulation of his spinal cord.

Rob Summers, from Oregon, said standing on his own was "the most amazing feeling".

He can voluntarily move his toes, hips, knees and ankles and also walk on a treadmill while being supported, according to research in the Lancet.

However, a UK expert said this should not be interpreted as a cure.

Rob Summers is able to stand while his spinal cord is stimulated

Rob was a keen baseball player and in 2006 was part of the team which won the College World Series.

But in that summer he was injured in a hit and run accident and his spinal cord was damaged.

Messages from the brain, which used to travel down the spinal cord, were blocked and he was paralysed.

Doctors surgically implanted 16 electrodes into his spine.

Rob trained daily in trying to stand, walk and move his legs, while electrical pulses were sent to the spinal cord.

Within days he was able to stand independently and eventually he could control his legs and step, with assistance, for short periods of time.

"None of us believed it," said Professor Reggie Edgerton, from the University of California. "I was afraid to believe it."

Continue reading the main story

In most spinal cord injuries only a small amount of the tissue is damaged so many nerve cells remain.

The researchers say these cells pick up signals from the legs and respond automatically. This is what allows a healthy person to stand still or walk without actively thinking about it and it is this process the doctors were trying to tap into.

But after a spinal injury the cells need help, in this case precise electric stimulation.

It mimics a message from the brain to start moving and changes the "mood" of the spinal cord so that it is able to hear the information which is coming in from the legs and respond. Researchers say this, coupled with intensive training, allowed Rob to stand or walk while supported on a treamill.

The researchers admit to having "no idea" about how the brain was also able to gain direct control of the toes, knee and hips.

They speculate that some nerve cells are being reactivated or maybe more of them are being created allowed signals from the brain to pass down the spinal cord.

Rob has also regained other functions such as bladder, bowel and blood pressure control.

He said it had been a "long journey of countless hours of training" which had "completely changed my life".

He added: "For someone who for four years was unable to even move a toe, to have the freedom and ability to stand on my own is the most amazing feeling."

Warning

This study has proved that electrical stimulation works in one person. Four more patients are being lined up to further test the treatment.

Professor Geoffrey Raisman, from the Institute of Neurology at UCL, said: "This one case is interesting, and from one of the leading groups in the world. To what extent this procedure could in the future provide a further and sustained improvement cannot be judged on the basis of one patient.

"From the point of view of people currently suffering from spinal cord injury, future trials of this procedure could add one more approach to getting some benefit. It is not and does not claim to be a cure."

Dr Melissa Andrews, from the Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, said that while the study was a "little bit mind blowing" people should not say this is a cure.

She added: "I think people need to read this and say the possibility is out there, but it may not come tomorrow. It's the closest we've ever seen and it's the best hope right now."

Professor Susan Harkema, who was part of the study at the University of Louisville, said: "It is really critical to be clear that it's still in a research realm, but stay tuned we're going to learn a lot more every day."

For Rob he sees his story as a message of hope to people who are paralysed and as for walking again: "I see it as a major possibility."

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