Paralysed dad Neil Burton's stem cell 'hug hope'

A man who has two rare conditions that have left him paralysed is hoping specialist treatment abroad can restore the simple pleasures of family life.

Neil Burton, 32, a father of three from Northampton, became ill four years ago with acute transverse myelitis and Guillain Barre syndrome, both of which cause paralysis and numbness in limbs.

He believes stem cell treatment could enable him to hug his children once more.

However, the treatment is only at the experimental stage in the UK so he needs to travel to Israel if he is to get his wish.

He and his family are planning events to raise the £25,000 required.

Transverse myelitis affects the spinal cord and causes paralysis and numbness in the limbs leaving many victims with severe disabilities, while others can make a complete or partial recovery within two years.

Guillain Barre syndrome is a disease of the nervous system which causes numbness and weakness and a degree of paralysis.

Treatment doubts

The two illnesses have changed Mr Burton's life completely.

"I was very active with my children before the illness," he said.

"Because it has caused paralysis to large parts of my body, especially in my arms, it's stopped me from doing all the normal things, like picking my children up and driving to work."

Despite being in a wheelchair and being reliant on a ventilator for his breathing, Mr Burton still does the same job at an IT company in Kettering that he did before his illness, the only difference now is he has a voice-controlled computer.

His brother John Burton said he was "an inspiration".

He said if it was not possible for his brother's treatment to go ahead, all the funds collected would go to a transverse myelitis charity.

Yvonne Kolesar, chairman of the transverse myelitis society said there was very little research being carried out in the UK for the disease, which affected between three and five people in a million.

"We would dearly love to see young, upwardly mobile medics getting involved in a research programme," she said.

Prof Robin Franklin from Cambridge University specialises in stem cell research and believes few stem cell therapies have been proven to be clinically effective.

"The evidence that stem cells are unequivocally going to be helpful to these conditions is not really yet absolutely compelling," he said.

But lack of evidence is not stopping Mr Burton in his search for a cure.

"My hope is that the stem cells will do repair work on my spinal cord and to at least be able to get my arms moving, because I would love to hug my children more than anything in the world," he said.