Hockey shirts adorn the walls, his favorite video game on TV, and his mobile phone not too far away, Henry Black is everything you might expect from a 16-year-old.
However, on June 25th, 2024, riding a bike changed my life forever.
“It started on a very average day,” Black said. It reminded me of a day I rode a bike with a friend in the waters of Scarborough Bluffs, a popular spot in Toronto's East End.
My friends thought about going for a swim, but the water was too cold so they kept grabbing the bike. It was getting dark and the teenager found himself on the top of the hill. Black saw a small stump towards the bottom and wanted to jump on his bike.
“I started to descend, and I was like, 'Wait, I'm like going very quickly.'
He slammed the tree.
“I couldn't immediately feel my body (where) in space, and I couldn't look down at where my legs and arms were,” he said.
His friends called 911 and Black's parents.
Black's father, Gary, was out of town for business.
“I'm four hours away in Windsor, so I quickly left dinner and got into the car and drove,” Gary said. “It was probably the fastest drive I've ever driven from Windsor to Toronto.”
Imaging revealed that black had C4-C5 spinal cord injury. A team at Sickkids Hospital in Toronto moved him to Sunny Brook for surgery.
“I remember how bumpy the roads in Toronto were behind this ambulance. I know Henry broke his neck,” Gary said.
“I was nervous that something could happen. You know, it could be more damage.
The accident caused Black to become paralyzed.
For the past 11 months he has lived at the Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Centre in Toronto, the Netherlands. There he has worked to regain strength within his limited range of athletics.
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Dr. Priya Sawal, a pediatrician in complex care, says that there were some major victories during the recovery process as Black learned to navigate his new reality.
“When he came to us, he had a tracheostomy and needed support to breathe,” Sayal explained.
“In his time here, his lungs became stronger and his respiratory muscles became stronger.”
However, recovery was not always easy.
“He has had several instances where he was transferred to the sick for admission for a variety of health reasons, some of which are longer and some shorter,” Sayal said.
“It's difficult because he's coming back… he's weak and feels he has to reconstruct some of those benefits that we've made.”
Surgery that gives new hope
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Black cannot walk and his hands and arms are limited. Three weeks ago he met Dr. Janadengger, a peripheral neurosurgeon at Sunny Brook Health Science Center.
On June 13th, Dengler and another surgeon perform triple nerve movement surgery on black. He will become the youngest patient in Ontario and undergo treatment.
“This is basically the procedure where we rewire the nerves in our upper limbs and return some function,” explained Dengler. “We connect nerves that work on non-functioning nerves.”
Dengler said the surgery is not a well-known option for spinal cord patients, but he hopes to change it through greater awareness. She points out that there was some hesitation on the part of the clinician.
“One problem is that this is a new application of established surgical techniques to new patient populations,” Dengler said. “I know that changes in clinical practice in medicine take a very long time.”
The ideal window to operate is 6-12 months after an injury.
“The hope for this upcoming neurosurgery is to strengthen some of those muscles and further innervate his upper limb muscles that he hadn't had before,” Sayal said.
There is no guarantee that the surgery will work, but the black man and his family remain optimistic.
Black said he hopes he will have greater ability to open and close his fingers and has the ability to push down with his triceps.
“It could really open up more doors for more independence,” he said.
Another long distance goal is to bring the black back home. The family is currently fundraising to try and build an accessible laneway house.
“If it were me, I wouldn't be that positive,” Gary said. “Maybe he's young and he doesn't know much about it. Or because his character is just because he thinks he's like the light of the sun. He brings that hope.”
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