NHS surgeon will be the first in the UK to perform an operation after becoming paralysed

An NHS surgeon will become the first in the UK to perform an operation using a specially adapted wheelchair after becoming paralysed.

Mohammed Belal, 48, is set to go back into the theatre at Queen Elizabeth Hospital after a freak cycling accident. The milestone of returning to work makes him one of few surgeons in the world who has returned to the operating table after being paralysed. 

The 48-year-old is a leading neuro-urology surgeon who often treats patients with spinal injuries similar to his. Following more than 1,000 hours of rehabilitation he returned to work this month and is believed to be the only paralysed NHS surgeon.

Mohammed, who has worked at the hospital for 11 years, was given a special electric wheelchair with a hydraulic seat by the University of Birmingham Hospitals NHS trust. It can be raised up to support him in a standing position while operating and has braces that lock around his knees which can be tilted and lean him over the patient. 

Tomorrow, he will be using the chair for the first time, fitting an artificial urinary sphincter, an operation scheduled to take two to three hours. Mohammed told the Mirror: ‘I feel incredible lucky. Not many people come back from a catastrophic, life-changing event to a job like this.’

His accident happened in February 2021, in Berkswell, West Midlands, while he was on his bike, a hobby that he took up as relief from the pressures of working on Covid wards. 

He was hit by a fallen tree which he said he was unable to avoid. 

Mohammed explained: ‘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.’

He was taken to University Hospital in Coventry for emergency surgery to pin his spine after he sustained injuries including a broken back, shoulder blade, and ribs.

Later, he had a 14-hour operation at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London.  

After the accident and operations, he spent five months in hospital and realised that recovery was going to be a long process.

His wife Elizabeth, 45, was only able to see him once a week and would drive to London to see him for an hour.

Mohammed, who has worked at the hospital for 11 years, was given a special electric wheelchair with a hydraulic seat by the University of Birmingham Hospitals NHS trust. It can be raised up to support him in a standing position while operating and has braces that lock around his knees which can be tilted and lean him over the patient. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where Mohammed works 

Elizabeth had their home renovated to meet their needs and looked after their children Ali, 16, Hannah, 14, and Mariam, 11.

Mohammed was concerned about his children, who he had not seen for several months, would react to his wheelchair. 

But while he said it was emotional for them to see it for the first time, they had a good time together.

More than a year after the accident, in June 2022, he was able to come home. 

The 48-year-old said that he now understands what patients are going through even more because of what he has been through and thinks it has made him a better doctor.