Six
weeks after snapping his spine in two in a car crash, a 25-year-old
man is able to walk out of hospital.
Matthew Hunt, of Harleston, Norfolk, was not wearing a seatbelt
when he lost control of his car near Bungay as he drove to
work.
Medical experts said he should have been paralysed but he
was able to walk again because crucial nerves survived.
The surgeon who put a surgical scaffold on Mr Hunt's spine
at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital said it was a miracle.
Am Rai said: "We couldn't reproduce this pattern of injury
in the laboratory and get away with it. Someone up there is
certainly looking after him."
Mr Rai said during six hours of surgery the team put a scaffold
of screws and hooks above and below the fracture dislocation
to reduce it before they inserted longer titanium metal rods
to hold it.
Mr Hunt, who is now recovering at home, said he was not wearing
a seatbelt when he lost control of his car.
"I can't remember crashing but the paramedics told me I rolled
it a few times. I think I must have got my bum stuck in the
sunroof and I think that was how I snapped my spine," he said.
Mr Hunt will have to wear a body brace for another two months
but the metalwork will be with him for life.
He said before the crash he had never considered using a seatbelt
- but now he did.
"If I had had my seatbelt on I would have probably just sustained
some other injuries," he said.
Six
weeks after snapping his spine in two in a car crash, a 25-year-old
man is able to walk out of hospital. 
