Gary’s life changed dramatically in March 2025, when he was involved in a serious workplace accident. While working at height on a scissor lift with a colleague, the platform detached from the lifter.

Both men fell, with Gary landing onto his colleague as the lift mechanism fell onto him. Gary sustained multiple life-changing injuries, including a complex pelvic and hip fracture, open fractures to both arms and legs, significant chest injuries with collapsed lungs and blood clot in the lung, spinal fractures, a head injury, multiple areas of nerve damage and serious internal abdominal injuries. 

Gary’s hospital recovery

The extent and complexity of Gary’s injuries meant that his early recovery focused on medical stabilisation and the prevention of further complications. During his inpatient hospital recovery, Gary required a hoist to transfer to a standard chair. He was only able to sit on the edge of the bed with assistance from multiple members of staff and, at times, could briefly maintain his own sitting balance, although hip pain significantly limited his tolerance. He completed several therapeutic, supported standing sessions, each requiring the assistance of four therapists.

At this stage, Gary was unable to stand using a walking aid because he could not bend his elbows sufficiently and was unable to take weight through his left hand while awaiting further soft tissue coverage. Gary had significantly reduced movement in both knees, his right arm and his left hip. This was due not only to the complexity of his fractures but also the development of heterotopic ossification in both elbows and his left hip. 

Transferring to Hunters Moor

Following discussion with his consultant, it was explained that improvements to his elbow movement were unlikely in the short term and would instead require future elective procedures. Due to these limitations, Gary was unable to carry out any activities of daily living independently, including personal care. Gary later transferred to Hunters Moor, our neurological rehabilitation and residential service in Birmingham, to begin a period of intensive specialist rehabilitation.

Through a structured, multi-disciplinary rehabilitation programme, Gary made remarkable progress. Gary had access to our rehabilitation technology, including the ArmMotus™ M2 Gen, Wrist Motus and the GripAble. By November 2025, he was able to walk out of the service with supervision and the use of one walking stick. He was able to manage stairs within the rehabilitation setting, although initially he could not safely manage the stairs in his own home because of compensatory movement patterns through his right hip.

The UK FIM+FAM (Functional Independence Measure and Functional Assessment Measure), a widely used rehabilitation outcome tool that measures physical, cognitive and psychosocial function, shows a significant improvement in Gary’s independence from admission to discharge.

Significant improvement in Gary’s independence

On admission, Gary was unable to complete any functional tasks due to severely restricted movement in both his upper and lower limbs; he was unable to hold a drink and relied on a specialist hands-free beaker and required a full hoist transfer into a tilt-in-space chair.

By discharge, Gary was mobilising out of Hunters Moor with a walking stick, was independent with sit-to-stand transfers, and was able to keep himself hydrated independently.

Gary’s FIM-FAM (Functional Independence Measure and Functional Assessment Measure)