Landon Smith, a Sherwood Park man injured at a trampoline park, will be the first Canadian — and youngest person ever — to participate in the Schwann Cell Clinical Trial as part of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.
“I am the youngest person in the world to be accepted in the trial. I am very excited to be part of this research and this journey on my trip to Miami,” Smith said from Edmonton on Monday.
Smith will leave for the States in three weeks and could spend 10 months in Miami receiving treatment in hopes of a full recovery.
Watch below: An Alberta man paralyzed at a trampoline park is hoping a U.S. clinical trial will help him be able to walk again. Quinn Ohler reports.
The now 20-year-old was at a birthday party when he broke his neck doing a front flip into a foam pit at Jump Park Trampoline in early 2017.
“First jump in, my life changed immediately,” Smith said in an interview in January.
“As soon as I jumped in I could feel the concrete. It felt like spinal shock; like two cymbals hit me in the head.”
READ MORE: Sherwood Park teen breaks his neck at trampoline park
The once active, independent teen was paralyzed from the chest down. He spent more than seven months at the University of Alberta Hospital and the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
Watch below: Landon Smith, a Sherwood Park man injured at a trampoline park in January 2017, said he has been focused on his recovery since day 1.
According to researchers at the Miami project to Cure Paralysis, Schwann cells are a “support” cell in the peripheral nervous system, which “includes all nerves going out to muscles, as well as sensory nerves coming from the muscles back to the spinal cord.”
The trial involves harvesting Schwann cells from the back of Smith’s leg, which will eventually be injected into the back of his neck. As many as 200 million cells will be injected into his spinal cord. Smith will undergo 12 weeks of rigorous training prior to the transplant.
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“I will get surgery on the back of my neck and they will inject the Schwann cells into my neck to hopefully regrow the spinal cord and get some regenerating factors,” Smith explained.
At this stage, it’s just an awesome opportunity to progress and speed up my recovery,” he said. “With going down, it’s not an ‘if’ I’ll walk, it’s a ‘when’ I’ll walk and I think this will help speed up that ‘when.'”
READ MORE: Trampoline parks just aren’t safe. And trampolines aren’t either, doctors say
Smith’s mother, Brenda, also continues to lobby for changes to the way trampoline parks are regulated. There are no regulations for trampoline parks in Canada, but most facilities voluntarily follow standards set in the United States.
“My frustration is the government has not taken an active step,” she said.
LISTEN BELOW: Landon and Brenda Smith speak with 630 CHED’s Ryan Jespersen
Brenda would like to see all trampoline parks follow the same standards in terms of where they buy their equipment and how staff are trained.
“I want that to be standard so that when anybody goes to a place like this that you know you’re going into a foam pit that is a certain depth, that has been tested, that meets safety standards, that there’s foam below it, that it’s standard. That is ideally what I want,” she said.
“I’m frustrated and I’m angry because I don’t want this to happen to anybody else.”
Watch below: The mother of an Alberta man who was injured in an incident at a Sherwood Park trampoline park wants to see regulations put in place for all parks across the province.
Brenda said she has reached out to Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson’s office in hopes of setting up a meeting, but so far nothing has materialized.
In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson with Alberta Municipal Affairs said the department is currently in the process of reviewing how trampoline parks operate in Alberta.
“To ensure the review is as thorough as possible, it involves not only industry, but also Alberta Health, the Safety Codes Council, the Alberta Elevating Devices and Amusement Rides Safety Association (AEDARSA), and safety standards development organizations,” the statement read.
“The review is being conducted to obtain as comprehensive a picture of the situation as is possible to provide sound recommendations on possible regulations. Over the summer, Municipal Affairs met with industry and safety experts and further review, including a survey of trampoline park owners and operators, is underway.”
The statement said Anderson has been in contact with Brenda Smith.
“The minister’s schedule was not able to accommodate a meeting with Ms. Smith over the summer, but he has been in correspondence with her to let her know that he will provide her with an update on the review when it is complete. We expect a meeting to occur this fall.”
The family is also in the midst of a $15-million lawsuit against the trampoline park, but lawyers told Global News it could be years before the suit is cleared up in court.
The Miami Project covers the cost of housing for Smith, but his medical care and living expenses are expected to cost about $100,000. A gofundme page has been set up in hopes of fundraising for Smith’s treatment.
Watch below: The University of Alberta’s injury prevention centre suggests trampolines should be banned unless they’re being used for gymnastics. Vinesh Pratap reports.
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