A burger chef has been left 'paralysed from the waist down' after undergoing surgery for a rare condition after an initial bout of unusual leg weakness. Matt Partington, 27, formerly of Crystal Palace, south London, now lives with his parents, Nick and Roisin, on the Isle of Wight.
He first noticed strange sensations in his legs in February, describing them as “weak and wobbly” and feeling as though “50% of the muscles had been sucked out.” After consulting his GP and undergoing an MRI scan at King’s College Hospital in London in July, Matt was diagnosed with spinal arteriovenous malformation (AVM) - a rare blood vessel abnormality in the spine.
He underwent spinal surgery in August and was warned of potential risks but said his surgeon assured him the operation “would be a complete success.” However, upon waking, Matt found himself paralysed from the surgery site down due to a spinal cord injury.
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Physiotherapy has helped Matt regain small movements in his left leg, left foot, and right toes, but doctors say it is “too early to tell” if he will fully recover and walk again. A statement from King’s College Hospital noted that they will continue monitoring his progress, adding that he “may continue to regain function in his legs.”
Now reliant on a wheelchair, Matt has launched a GoFundMe page to support his recovery, raising over £11,000 so far to fund neurological physiotherapy and specialized equipment. “The symptoms I’d been having were probably set in stone due to the nerve damage but in terms of the operation, they thought it would be a complete success,” Matt told PA Real Life.
“I think about how life will be down the line but mostly I miss the things I loved, like walking on the beach after swimming, dancing all night at a festival and kicking a football around with mates in summer. You go through all these weird different emotions … I’m just really frustrated this happened.”
Matt noticed strange sensations in his legs in February when he was working as a chef at a burger restaurant in Covent Garden, London. “I started to feel this weird weakness in my legs, like 50% of the muscles had been sucked out,” he said.
“I could still stand and walk but my legs felt a bit wobbly.” Matt said the feelings in his legs lasted for around 30 minutes before it stopped, so he “didn’t think too much of it”.
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Over the next few months, however, he noticed the sensations would return sporadically before their duration and frequency increased until he was experiencing it for around an hour every few days. “It felt like my legs weren’t working properly – I couldn’t walk very fast or get up the stairs,” Matt said. He was also experiencing urinary hesitancy leading him to become “really worried” he may have had prostate cancer.
Matt arranged an appointment at his GP surgery in June and was booked in for a blood test. In the meantime, however, his doctor noticed on his medical records that he had complained of lower back pain around four years ago – which was later thought to be attributed to the spinal AVM.
“I’d always had lower back pain, it’s never been that bad and has always been quite sporadic – I can always get up and go on with my day,” Matt explained. Because of this, his doctor wanted to send him for an MRI scan at his nearest hospital, King’s College Hospital in Camberwell, London, and he went to A&E.
There, Matt had three scans on his bladder and an MRI. “The good news is they thought they knew what it was, the bad news was they had found an abnormality in my back,” Matt said.
On July 29, Matt received his diagnosis of a spinal AVM, a rare condition where a tangle of blood vessels form on, in or near the spinal cord, according to the NHS. “I didn’t know what an AVM was and I was completely delirious at that point,” he said.
He was admitted for further tests before he was booked in for surgery – which involved disconnecting the blood supply to the damaged veins to reduce the risk it was posing to his spinal cord.
His operation was scheduled for August 5 and the weekend before, Matt was able to leave the hospital. He spent time with his friends and family before he returned – not knowing this would be the last time he would be able to walk.
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Speaking about when he found out he was paralysed, he said: "Initially when I woke up I was still pretty out of it, I don’t think I really understood what happened the first day.
“I remember I kept thinking, ‘I’m going to wake up tomorrow and my legs are going to work’.”
Matt said he was told he had suffered a spinal cord injury during the operation. “My lead surgeon seemed pretty down about the fact my legs weren’t working – his reaction wasn’t a good one," he said.
“He didn’t say a lot, he just seemed pretty disappointed." Matt said the first few days were “really hard” but after a few weeks, he was able to transfer himself from his bed to his wheelchair independently.
He completed a three-month physiotherapy scheme at King’s College Hospital before he was transferred to The London Spinal Cord Injury Centre in Stanmore for a further six weeks.
Matt was able to return to his parents’ house on the Isle of Wight on December 3 and he continues to have physiotherapy once a week. “You get home and it all gets really real, what’s happened,” Matt said.
“You’re no longer around specialists who know what they are doing – it’s just you on your own.” He is now able to move his left leg, bringing it in and out and bending it, as well as his left foot and the toes on his right foot.
As far as the rest of his progression goes, he said he has been told it is “too early to tell. I’m still super positive, I’m still doing everything I can, it’s a waiting game.
“If they hadn’t caught it, they told me I would have gone paralysed from the waist down anyway. It getting caught when it did might end up meaning I have a chance of walking again.”
Matt has launched a GoFundMe page to help raise money for further neurological physiotherapy and equipment, such as a motorised wheelchair, which has raised more than £11,000 to date.
In a statement, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are sorry to hear that Mr Partington is not happy with the care he received.
“As with all patients undergoing planned surgery, Mr Partington underwent a detailed consultation with his clinical team prior to his operation, in which he was informed about the risks of surgery, including the potential for spinal cord or spinal nerve damage.
“He also had extensive discussions with the treating team after surgery to explain the outcome and his prognosis. Our teams are committed to supporting patients before, during and after surgery, and we will continue to monitor Mr Partington’s progress.
“He may continue to regain function in his legs.” To find out more, visit Matt’s fundraising page here.