Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
When a two-year-old boy suffered a catastrophic injury that severed the connection between his skull and spine, doctors across Europe told his family there was no hope. His spinal cord was completely severed, and the injury was not considered survivable. But University of Chicago neurosurgeon Mohamad Bydon saw a possibility.
In this episode of Big Brains, Dr. Bydon walks us through the extraordinary, multi-stage surgery at UChicago that not only saved the boy’s life but helped him regain the ability to breathe, talk and move his fingers and toes. He examines the future of surgery for spinal cord injury patients—from minimally invasive surgery techniques to robotic surgery and AI to stem cell therapy—is even helping some paralyzed patients regain movement and even walk again after their injuries.
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When a two-year-old boy suffered a catastrophic injury that severed the connection between his skull and spine, doctors across Europe told his family there was no hope. His spinal cord was completely severed, and the injury was not considered survivable. But University of Chicago neurosurgeon Mohamad Bydon saw a possibility.
In this episode of Big Brains, Dr. Bydon walks us through the extraordinary, multi-stage surgery at UChicago that not only saved the boy’s life but helped him regain the ability to breathe, talk and move his fingers and toes. He examines the future of surgery for spinal cord injury patients—from minimally invasive surgery techniques to robotic surgery and AI to stem cell therapy—is even helping some paralyzed patients regain movement and even walk again after their injuries.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
