Rahul had a fall while horse-riding on his honeymoon. He was paralysed below the waist after the injury. He felt no sensation in his legs, and had lost bowel and bladder control. He had sustained a fracture of his seventh thoracic vertebra with an almost complete transection of his spinal cord. He was air-lifted and transferred to our hospital within a few hours of the accident. His wife narrated between sobs what had transpired, and a quick look at the patient history and detailed examination later, I knew what we were dealing with.

"We will have to fix the fracture with a few screws and rods and relieve the compression from the spinal cord, but I haven't seen anyone with an injury of this nature being able to walk again. The purpose of stabilisation of the spine is purely so that you may undergo extensive rehabilitation later," I concluded, asphyxiating hope at the very beginning.