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'I can't let my injury defeat me': Motorcycle crash victim gets stem cell therapy
Quanecia Fraser
Anchor/Reporter
'I can't let my injury defeat me': Motorcycle crash victim gets stem cell therapy
JULIE: THANKS, BILL. DOCTORS TOLD THIS MAN HE WOULD NEVER WALK BUT HE IS TRYING TO BE DEEP ODDS. ROB: IN 2012, A MOTORCYCLE CRASH LEFT 29-YEAR-OLD NATHAN BIRD PARALYZED WITH SEVERAL BROKEN BONES. NOW, HE’S TRYING TO OVERCOME THOSE INJURIES WITH THE HELP OF STEM CELL THERAPY. JULIE: KETV NEWSWATCH 7’S QUANECIA FRASER HAS THE STORY YOU’LL FIND ONLY 7. QUANECIA: NATHAN BIRD SAYS AUGUST 23 OF 2012 WAS JUST ANOTHER NIGHT OUT ON THE ROAD. >> I JUST HAD BOUGHT A NEW BIKE AND FIXED IT UP AND I WAS OUT HERE CLOWNING AROUND ON IT. QUANECIA: BIRD SAYS HE WAS HAVING FUN DOING TRICKS ON HIS MOTORCYCLE WHEN HE LOST CONTROL AND HIT A POLE HERE NEAR 60TH AND DODGE. >> I BLACKED OUT, I REMEMBER WAKING UP A LITTLE BIT. THERE WAS PEOPLE ALL AROUND ME, AND I WAS JUST SCREAMING OUT MY MOM’S PHONE NUMBER. QUANECIA: HE BLACKED OUT AGAIN, AND WOKE UP IN THE HOSPITAL. >> THEY PUT RODS IN MY SPINE. I BROKE MY FEMUR, BROKE MY PELVIS, CRACKED SOME RIBS, COLLAPSED LUNG. AND THEY TOLD ME YOU’RE PARALYZED AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO WALK AGAIN. QUANECIA: AFTER MULTIPLE SURGERIES AND MONTHS OF REHAB BIRD SAYS HE LOOKED INTO STEM CELL THERAPY. >> THEY WERE DOING A LOT OF TRIALS, AND A LOT OF STUDIES ON IT, AND A LOT OF RESEARCH, AND THEY WERE HAVING SOME SUCCESS BUT IT WASN’T READILY AVAILABLE IN AMERICA YET. QUANECIA: HE GAVE UP ON THE IDEA, UNTIL BIRD AND HIS WIFE DECIDED THEY WANTED TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY. >> IF I CAN REPAIR AND REGENERATE MY OWN SPINAL CORD AND MAYBE GET SOME FUNCTION GOING ON AGAIN, THEN MAYBE I CAN PRODUCE MY OWN CHILD WITHOUT HAVING TO SPEND THOUSANDS. DOING THE FERTILITY TREATMENT. QUANECIA: BUT HIS WIFE WAS OUT OF WORK, AND HE COULDN’T AFFORD THE TREATMENT ALONE. SO BIRD STARTED AN ONLINE FUNDRAISER. >> IT WAS DEFINITELY TRYING TO WORK AGAINST THE TIDE BUT GOD IS GREAT AND WE DEFINITELY ALL PULLED TOGETHER AND WE RAISED THE MONEY TO GO DO IT. QUANECIA: THAT ALLOWED HIM TO GET THE PROCEDURE IN JULY. DOCTORS TOOK STEM CELLS FROM HIS STOMACH AND INJECTED THEM INTO HIS SPINAL CORD. >> I CAN FEEL LIGHT TINGLES AN SLIGHT SENSATIONS, NO MOVEMENT OR MOTOR FUNCTION JUST YET, BUT IT’S DOING SOMETHING GOOD. QUANECIA: HE SAYS IT WILL TAKE UP TO NINE MONTHS TO SEE BIG CHANGES, BUT HE’S PLENTY MOTIVATED. >> IT GIVES ME SOME SORT OF HOPE THAT IN MY LIFETIME, I COULD WALK AGAIN, I COULD REGAIN FUNCTION AGAIN, I COULD BIRTH A CHILD. AND THAT’S THE BIGGEST THING IS THE HOPE. QUANEC
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'I can't let my injury defeat me': Motorcycle crash victim gets stem cell therapy
Quanecia Fraser
Anchor/Reporter
Medics told 29-year-old Nathan Bird he would never walk again, but he hopes to beat the odds.In 2012, a motorcycle crash left him paralyzed with broken bones. Bird is trying to overcome those injuries with the help of stem cell therapy. Nathan Bird said Aug. 23 that year was just another night out on the road."I just had bought a new bike and fixed it up, and I was out here clowning around on it," Bird said.He said he was having fun doing tricks on the motorcycle when he lost control and hit a pole near 60th and Dodge streets."I blacked out. I remember waking up a little bit. There was people all around me, and I was just screaming out my mom's phone number," Bird said.He blacked out again and woke up in the hospital."I broke my femur, broke my pelvis, cracked some ribs, collapsed lung," he said. "And they told me, 'You're paralyzed and you're not going to be able to walk again.'"After multiple surgeries and months of rehab, Bird said he looked into stem cell therapy."They were doing a lot of trials, and a lot of studies on it, and a lot of research," Bird said. "And they were having some success but it wasn't readily available in America yet."He gave up on the idea, until Bird and his wife decided they wanted to have another baby."If I can repair and regenerate my own spinal cord and maybe get some function going on again, then maybe I can produce my own child without having to spend thousands doing the fertility treatment," Bird said.But his wife was out of work and he couldn't afford the treatment alone, so Bird started an online fundraiser."It was definitely trying to work against the tide but God is great, and we definitely all pulled together and we raised the money to go do it," Bird said.That allowed him to get the procedure in July. Doctors took stem cells from his stomach and injected them into his spinal cord."I can feel light tingles and slight sensations, no movement or motor function just yet, but it's doing something good," he said.Bird said it will take up to nine months to see big changes but he's already motivated."It gives me some sort of hope that in my lifetime, I could walk again, I could regain function again, I could birth a child. And that's the biggest thing: is the hope," he said.
OMAHA, Neb. —

Medics told 29-year-old Nathan Bird he would never walk again, but he hopes to beat the odds.

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In 2012, a motorcycle crash left him paralyzed with broken bones. Bird is trying to overcome those injuries with the help of stem cell therapy.

Nathan Bird said Aug. 23 that year was just another night out on the road.

"I just had bought a new bike and fixed it up, and I was out here clowning around on it," Bird said.

He said he was having fun doing tricks on the motorcycle when he lost control and hit a pole near 60th and Dodge streets.

"I blacked out. I remember waking up a little bit. There was people all around me, and I was just screaming out my mom's phone number," Bird said.

He blacked out again and woke up in the hospital.

"I broke my femur, broke my pelvis, cracked some ribs, collapsed lung," he said. "And they told me, 'You're paralyzed and you're not going to be able to walk again.'"

After multiple surgeries and months of rehab, Bird said he looked into stem cell therapy.

"They were doing a lot of trials, and a lot of studies on it, and a lot of research," Bird said. "And they were having some success but it wasn't readily available in America yet."

He gave up on the idea, until Bird and his wife decided they wanted to have another baby.

"If I can repair and regenerate my own spinal cord and maybe get some function going on again, then maybe I can produce my own child without having to spend thousands doing the fertility treatment," Bird said.

But his wife was out of work and he couldn't afford the treatment alone, so Bird started an online fundraiser.

"It was definitely trying to work against the tide but God is great, and we definitely all pulled together and we raised the money to go do it," Bird said.

That allowed him to get the procedure in July. Doctors took stem cells from his stomach and injected them into his spinal cord.

"I can feel light tingles and slight sensations, no movement or motor function just yet, but it's doing something good," he said.

Bird said it will take up to nine months to see big changes but he's already motivated.

"It gives me some sort of hope that in my lifetime, I could walk again, I could regain function again, I could birth a child. And that's the biggest thing: is the hope," he said.