Stem cell treatment allows Brian to take first steps on road to recovery

A Limerick quantity surveyor left blind and paralysed after a brutal assault, has taken the first steps from his wheelchair following stem cell treatment in China.

Brian Hogan, 35, was working in Nottingham in Jul 2009, when on a night out with friends, he was knocked to the ground without provocation, hitting his head on the pavement.

When an ambulance was called, he declined help. Some time later that night his condition deteriorated rapidly. When he came out of a coma, some weeks later, he was left blind and paralysed.