An NHS surgeon will become the first in the UK to perform an operation after becoming paralysed tomorrow.
Mohammed Belal will join an elite club when he goes back into the theatre using a specially adapted wheelchair.
Only a handful of surgeons in the world have gone back to operate after being paralysed.
As a leading neuro-urology surgeon, he regularly treats patients with spinal injuries similar to those he sustained in a freak cycling accident.
Mohammed, 48, said: “I feel incredible lucky. Not many people come back from a catastrophic, life-changing event to a job like this.”
The dad-of-three took up cycling as a form of relief after volunteering to work on the Covid wards at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham during the pandemic.
He was riding through the village of Berkswell in the West Midlands when he was hit by a fallen tree in February 2021.
Mohammed said: “We were going pretty fast and suddenly I saw the tree coming down in front of me. I knew I wasn’t going to miss it.
“I woke up, tried to move, and couldn’t feel anything from the waist down.
“I know spinal injuries very well, because I have been taking care of those patients and their bladders for many years. I realised straight away that I was paralysed and visualised myself in a wheelchair.”
His injuries included a broken back, shoulder blade, and ribs.
Mohammed was rushed to University Hospital in Coventry for emergency surgery to pin his spine.
He later needed another 14-hour operation at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London.
He said: “At that point, I knew the road ahead would take years, not weeks or months.
“I tried to stay positive. I focused on the fact that I was a lucky guy, they would be able to fix my spine, and I would get through it.”
Mohammed spent five months in hospital, during which his wife Elizabeth, 45, was only allowed to visit once a week. He said: “She would drive all the way to London to see me for an hour, then drive back.
“She was an absolute rock. As well as looking after our children, she had our home renovated to meet my needs.”
Mohammed didn’t see his son Ali, 16, and daughters Hannah, 14, and Mariam, 11, for several months after the accident. He added: “I was a bit worried because I didn’t know how they would react to seeing me in a wheelchair for the first time. It was very emotional, but we had such a fun time.”
Mohammed was finally able to return home last June.
This month, he returned to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he has worked for the past 11 years – after more than 1,000 hours of rehabilitation.
The University of Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust invested in a special electric wheelchair with a hydraulic seat that can be raised up to support him in a standing position while operating.
He will use it tomorrow when he fits an artificial urinary sphincter, in an op which will last two to three hours.
Mohammed said: “Having that support made such a big difference. I feel so blessed.”
The wheelchair is fitted with braces that lock around his knees and can be tilted, leaning him over the patient.
Mohammed is believed to be the only paralysed surgeon working for the NHS.
He said: “I think everything I have been through has made me a better doctor. I understand what patients are going through that much more.”
