About the study: Phase one of the study consisted of eight participants with SCI at a site in Hong Kong, while phase two included 20 participants in Kunming, located in China’s southern Yunnan Province.

All but one of the participants had ASIA A, or complete, SCI injuries ranging from C3 to T11, and they averaged 14 years post-injury in Hong Kong and seven years post-injury in Kunming, China. Participants at both sites received injections of umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (UCBMNC) above and below their injuries, in addition to surgery to de-tether their spinal cords and a large dose of methylprednisolone.

The big difference between the two phases was that the Kunming participants also underwent what Wise Young called the “most intensive walking program in the world” – six hours a day, six days a week for three to six months, covering long distances with a rolling walker – while those in Hong Kong did not.