Hattiesburg American Story - Recovery from Broken Neck Aided by Stem Cell Therapy
January 13, 2010
Hurt Teen Making Progress
by Stan Caldwell
Hattiesburg American
A stem-cell procedure performed in Germany is being credited with the significant recovery of a high school football player who suffered a broken neck more than a year ago.
On Monday, Justin McCray will meet the bus outside
his home in the Glendale community and go to school for the first
time since the Sept. 9, 2008, injury that left him paralyzed.
McCray, a junior at North Forrest High School, still needs a wheelchair to get around. But he is now strong enough to move a non-mechanized chair himself and can move himself from his wheelchair.
"He has definitely made tremendous progress," physical therapist Jennifer Stewart said. "He has made so many gains in so many areas."
McCray said the stem-cell procedure, in which stem cells are processed from the patient's bone marrow then reinjected, was not as invasive as it might sound.
"[1] They went up in my hip bone and took the stem cells out, then injected me in my lower back," he said. "It left me with a bad headache for about a day. But other than that, it wasn't too bad."
The procedure was done at the XCell-Center in Dusseldorf, Germany. The clinic claims about a 60 percent success rate in patients with spinal-cord injuries.
McCray has regained significant movement and feeling from his waist up, and is starting to regain some feeling in his feet.
More important, he is now able to stand up in leg braces and can walk a few steps with assistance.
"We're still hopeful that he'll get up and be able to walk," said Marche' Maye, Justin's mother. "He has gotten so much back, just since we came back from Germany.
"He's starting to feel things below his waist."
"We can't imagine what that's like," Stewart said. "All of his goals relating to therapy are pointed toward gaining as much independence as possible.
"The more independent we can make him, the better it is for him."
Now, McCray is "excited" to return to school.
"I like being up there at school with all my classmates," he said.
Not only will it be a big day for McCray, but the school will celebrate, as well.
"It's going to be a huge day," North Forrest football coach Shannon White said. "It's been a long journey for him, his family and for our school.
"We're looking forward to his getting on somewhat of a getting-back-to-normal situation."
Despite missing more than a year of class time, Justin is on schedule to graduate with his class in 2011, thanks to online coursework provided by the school. He is making plans to attend the University of Southern Mississippi.
"It's really important for me to know I can still graduate with my class," McCray said. "I've always been a goal-oriented person. I'm thinking about marketing. But I'm also looking at some other avenues."
McCray has had the support of family, including his parents and sister, Megan. Friends and members of the community, even some McCray didn't know before his injury, have rallied to his side.
But his coach said McCray's personal makeup has been his greatest asset.
"He has a strong faith, and it's a family that believes in prayer," White said. "But, mostly, it's his makeup. He's a fighter. Most of the time, he's positive.
"And those are things that can't be measured by doctors."
Footnotes:
[1] First, The bone marrow is removed under local anesthesia via thin-needle minipuncture to the hip bone. The next day, the stem cells are separated in the lab. The third day, the stem cells are injected into the spinal fluid under local anesthesia between L4 and L5.
