Emily James, 24, smashed her C5 vertebrae in a snowboarding accident four years ago. "Straight away, I knew something was wrong," she said.
Like so many of the 15,000 Australians living with spinal cord injury she was told she would never walk again.
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Spinal research gives hope for the paralysed
Emily James was told she'd never walk again after a snowboarding accident left her quadriplegic.
But a treatment program that allows paralysed patients to feel, stand and voluntarily move their legs is coming to Australia. It is giving people like Ms James hope that a spinal cord injury is no longer a life sentence of paralysis.
"It is unbelievably exciting," said Professor Bryce Vissel, who is moving from the Garvan Institute to establish the Centre for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Technology, Sydney.
In collaboration with the Edgerton Lab at the University of California in Los Angeles, Professor Vissel will develop new clinical methods that offer hope for the paralysed to move again.
At UCLA Professor Reggie Edgerton has studied the science of the spinal cord for 40 years. In 2011 using a revolutionary method to stimulate neurons in the spine, Professor Edgerton's first patient was able stand.
The results amazed everyone.
"I do look back now and wonder what in hell took me so long, but that's hindsight for you," Professor Edgerton said.
His team at UCLA uses electrical neuromodulation to reactivate spinal circuitry. This was done first using a surgically implanted epidural, but can now be achieved through the skin via transcutaneous stimulation.
Using this method 20 documented patients have recovered voluntary movement, sensation and associated health benefits.
Now, for the first time, a dedicated team outside the US is being established at UTS to replicate and advance Professor Edgerton's work. Professor Vissel expects to start work with the first patients in Australia by the middle of next year.
"What we tried is a special type of stimulation of the spinal cord. And we could get these patients to stand independently," Professor Edgerton said.
"But what we didn't expect is we got people to regain voluntary control [of their legs]."
Alongside voluntary movement and sensation, patients recover lost bowel, bladder and sexual function. Their legs start to sweat again, assisting in heat control and cardiovascular health.
Ms James works as a peer support officer for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia.
"After your injury you are told 'You will never walk again'. But now we know there are grey areas.
"The research by Reggie Edgerton on neurostimulation is giving hope to the community that recovery is possible," she said.
Ms James knows it won't lead to a state "where you will be running marathons. But it could be where a quadriplegic gets more hand function.
"For a quadriplegic like myself regaining temperature control would be great socially. During winter I go out less because I get colder quicker than the average person.
"That causes issues for me because it can trigger autonomic dysreflexia [rapid onset of high blood pressure].
"So if I was able to control that better, it would open more pathways because I wouldn't choose to stay home."
It is the potential for small changes that would be transformational for Kerri-Anne Kennerley's husband, John, who was injured in March and is quadriplegic.
"He has no hand movement at the moment so it would just be wonderful if he could feed himself and brush his teeth," Mrs Kennerley said.
She spoke on Wednesday night at UTS at an event to launch Project Edge, a collaboration between UTS, SpinalCure Australia and Spinal Cord Injuries Australia.
"Professor Edgerton's work is truly a miracle. I'm happy to give an ounce back to the community by supporting this initiative," Kennerley said.
So why UTS? Professor Edgerton said that the university is establishing a dedicated team with multidisciplinary expertise. He hopes the UTS initiative is the start of a global expansion of his work.
"We don't really know how it exactly works," Professor Edgerton said. "What we're seeing has created more questions than we had before, so we need labs around the world tackling different problems."
Professor Vissel said: "Through Reggie's work [we've found] that people with complete injuries don't have complete breakages of the spinal cord. There is still some [neural] fibre running through the injured region.
"By applying electrical stimulation below the injury, it makes neurons more sensitive to the very weak signals from the brain, like satellite messages from outer space."
He said the brain can exploit what is known as neural plasticity - the ability of neurons to relearn function.
"We think we are on the cusp of a revolution in our understanding of brain and spinal repair," Professor Vissel said.
"At UTS we are bringing together engineering, science, mathematics, health and community groups to tackle very significant problems.
"Our first program will be the spinal cord program - but we will also be looking at Parkinson's, Alzheimers and stroke patients."
Until recently, a spinal cord injury was a life sentence. But Professor Edgerton and now UTS hope to rewrite that story.
But is there a danger of building false hope?
Professor Vissel is emphatic. "There is no such thing as false hope, only false promises. Hope is what makes us human. Hope is at the core of scientific endeavour," he said.
Find out more at www.projectedge.org.au.