‘Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up!’

I don’t know where this great quote originates from, but I heard it the other day used by an American doctor to highlight how fixed our beliefs become and just how easily we ignore hard evidence.

Doctors have become used to repeating the mantra ‘you’ll never walk again’ every time a spinal cord injury presents itself. And as a result they have stopped questioning, they have stopped investigating, and they have stopped looking at the evidence that is out there.

This brings me to another favourite quote by George Bernard Shaw:

'The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.'

So these doctors are effectively halting medical progress and even worse, with these words they are also  denying their patients hope. Undoubtedly, they do it with the best intention in the world - because they don’t want their patients to suffer from ‘false’ hope. But can hope ever be false? To live without hope is to live without the possibility of miracles. To live without hope is to live a life that is limited to what we believe is possible. When we allow ourselves to lift the barriers to what is possible, we can achieve the miraculous.

Last Sunday, I watched an incredibly uplifting documentary which demonstrated just what could be achieved when one mother refused to accept the prognosis that her daughter would never walk again. Her actions have been felt throughout the entire world and have restored hope to patients with spinal cord injuries....

The mother, a nurse, spent hours, days, months and years trawling the internet to discover all research involving spinal cord patients. Her search finally led her to a Chinese doctor who successfully performed a couple of operations on her daughter. The first was to remove scar tissue, as the injury had occurred a number of years previously, and then a second operation to create a bypass around the injured area on the spinal cord.

This is not a story about quick fixes or miracles - but about the determination and courage of both mother and daughter. Her daughter’s treatment has involved years of intense rehabilitation and many different therapies, including laser acupuncture and spiritual healing to complement the operations. They have travelled from

Iceland

as far afield as

China

,

Russia

and

England

. Their journey has included the intervention of the presidents of a number of nations, as well as the world health organisation.

Progress is incredibly slow, but undeniable. She is able to stand and even take a few tentative steps unaided. Although this might not seem much, it has given her, her freedom. She is able to get from her wheelchair and into her own car unaided! She has completed her studies and is now working.

But what makes this a truly epic tale is that one mother’s efforts have resulted in all research on spinal cord injuries coming together under one umbrella, so that it is available for all patients and doctors to access. Hope has been restored!

Ask yourself how attached are you to your beliefs, how often are you guilty of saying ‘Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up!’