Researchers are calling the case of a 37-year-old Windsor man, who regained use of his hand 23-years after suffering a stroke, "remarkable".
John Humphrey was 15 years old when he suffered a severe stroke that resulted in the loss of use of his left arm and hand.
After 23 years of showing no improvement, Humphrey began swimming for exercise and weight control.
Researchers at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine and at the Lawson Health Research Institute say Humphrey began showing partial signs of movement and within two years, was able to pick up coins with his previously non-functioning hand.
Researchers say swimming had apparently triggered a rewiring within parts of the brain.
Professor of Neurology and Clinical Pharmacology at Western, Dr. David Spence, has been involved with Humphrey's treatment since 1980. He believes this case will totally change the way stroke patients are treated when it comes to recovery.
Humphrey tells AM800 News he can now use his arm and hand to grab things and to drive.
"My arm was a paper weight," says Humphrey. "I would actually have to pick-up my left arm and place it on a paper so I could write and the paper wouldn't move. So it's weird now having to arms and a hand that's coming back to life after all these years. The thinking back in 1979, and years after that, was that if you didn't recover within six months you're not going to. I can grasp a lot of things, sometimes I can't open my hands very much. I don't have the fine movement in my hand. That's going to take years for that to come back but I'm going to keep at it."
Professor of Neurology and Clinical Pharmacology at Western, Dr. David Spence, says this will change the way stroke recovery is viewed.
"Most people who talk about stroke recovery, is that yeah you'll get some recovery in the first six months, maybe up to a year but after a year or two there's no point in trying to do anymore physiotherapy because you're not going to get any more recovery," says Spence. "John's case proves that that's simply not true. John's case is like a red flag saying hey, it's not true, if you don't recover after a year. We need to be looking harder at this."
Researchers say the case will encourage a greater look at more intensive and prolonged physiotherapy for stroke victims, but also treatment with emerging methods such as stem cell therapy.
— with files from AM800's Peter Langille —