When you do enough activity-based therapy, you hope something spectacular will happen — you’ll slowly see some below injury movement, or maybe regain some sensation. While doctors say this is rubbish, many people claim otherwise. I never expected much.

When I first started attending Project Walk a few months ago, I definitely didn’t expect anything … just like my doctors … and I’m still not quite sure what has happened, but last week therapists noticed something quite astounding — a flicker of muscle control below my level of injury.

Call it what you will — spontaneous muscle movement recovery or something that has been there all along and is now just being noticed — I never would have known this small movement was even there had it not been for Project Walk. And what if it was there all along? We should not be subjected to the traditional therapist’s mindset of, “It’s a flicker of a movement. What’s the point?” The point is I want to know about it!

My therapist noticed the slight movement in my right gluteus maximus when asking me to move my right leg outwards like a snow angel. He asked me to do it again, again and again and then several more times after that just to be sure it wasn’t some fluke. It’s funny. I didn’t even know I was doing it. In my mind I’m always trying to move my fingers and legs and nothing ever happens.

He then put my leg in a pulley system, asking me to move my leg in a zero gravity environment, and again the muscle made a small movement. For someone with a terribly mangled spinal cord, this is beyond amazing.

My guess is that I’ve always had this slight movement all long, but it’s just so subtle that no one ever noticed it before. I don’t expect to be walking with this slight muscle movement, I’m far from overzealous. But it feels amazing to know that there is some connection being made.

Connections are always a very good thing. They give you hope in all aspects of life, even if it’s by a sliver.

Have you randomly regained small movement or feeling years after your spinal cord injury?