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UK doctors had given up hope for Irishman Jason Clarke, but Chinese therapists have rebuilt his life

Four years ago Jason Clarke was left paralysed from the neck down and his doctors wanted to turn off his life support machine. But after 10 months in a pioneering Beijing clinic, the Irishman is walking again and plans to climb the Great Wall.

Mr Clarke suffered three massive strokes after he was hit on the head by a bottle that his girlfriend threw during a row. He was 'a vegetable to all intents and purposes', says his family, but they refused to let him die.

For three years the parents of the 35-year-old sought help from several clinics, in Ireland and Britain,  paying up to GBP55,000 ($824,000) for three months' treatment in the Royal Hospital in Putney, London.

But  he was making  painfully slow progress and by May last year, Mr Clarke - a physiotherapist  - still could not stand. His head had to be held up with a brace, he was dribbling constantly and he was fed through a tube inserted into his stomach.

After 10 months of intensive treatment in a Beijing clinic run by Deng Pufang ,  son of China's late paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping , Mr Clarke's recovery seems to have been little short of miraculous.

He can walk with the aid of a stick, and can feed and wash himself. He can make jokes about pretty girls and talks  about hiking.

The Beijing experiment cost his family - frustrated by years of expensive and largely ineffectual treatment in Europe - just  $103,860.

Last week he walked into a St Patrick's Day party at the Irish embassy in Beijing.  For Mr Clarke, the guest of honour, the celebration was of personal tragedy turned into triumph.

His mother, Peggy, said: 'We just cannot believe the progress he has made in China.  It's absolutely amazing. China has really shown our health-care system up. Who would have dreamed it?'

Mr Deng  has been paralysed from the waist down since he was thrown from the window of a university dormitory during the Cultural Revolution, when his father was purged.

Mr Deng's research centre and clinic are  well funded and benefit from a highly qualified, cheap workforce. More than 1,000 staff care for fewer than 350 patients.

'The difference is not just about cost, it's about attitude to health care,' says Seamus Thompson, a family friend and former board member of Ireland's Wheelchair Association (IWA), who introduced the Clarkes to the clinic.

'Here, the patient is at the centre of everything.'

Soon after Mr Clarke arrived, more than 25 specialists from across  China convened for a case conference to discuss the best treatment - a blend of eastern and western medicine.

A rigorous daily programme was drawn up that included physiotherapy, occupational therapy, hydrotherapy, psychotherapy, music therapy, speech therapy, recreational therapy and acupuncture.

Mr Clarke's condition started improving almost immediately. In Ireland, he had one therapy session a week; in Putney, a handful. In China, he had 40 sessions a week. And while Putney cost on average about #3,000 a week, the much more intensive programme in Beijing cost about #700 a month.

He had a private suite and a personal carer, Zhao Zhiyong,  who was assigned to look after him 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

He kept  in touch with friends and family with a computer and video camera set up in his room.

Although the family had full health insurance, the Irish health system 'failed miserably', says Mrs Clarke, 63. Her son had been put in a geriatric ward and his doctor told hospital staff: 'If he starts to slip off, do not resuscitate him. It would be inhumane.'

Mrs Clarke was recovering from breast cancer at the time. 'At that stage we were thinking it was over,' she recalls. In desperation, her husband Frank, who hosts an art show on Irish television, challenged the doctor: 'Just keep him alive, or I'll sue you,' he says.

The Clarkes organised fund-raisers and emptied savings accounts to pay for the treatment for nine months. Even then, however, their son was unable even to hold his head up straight. His parents began to look further afield.

The couple  had been prominent fund-raisers for the IWA for the past 20 years, organising golf tournaments and social events.

'All that time helping them out, we never thought we'd need their help for one of our own,' says Mrs Clarke.

Mr Thompson had been travelling to China since the mid-1990s, initially taking wheelchair-bound Irish tourists to Beijing, and he recommended they take their son to the country's capital.

Mr Clarke flourished at the clinic. He befriended Mr Zhao, his 23-year-old carer, and in the evening they would listen to music together and watch DVDs while Mr Clarke stood up in a special box to rebuild his strength.

Mr Clarke will leave China today to continue therapy in Ireland.

Until now, most foreigners have come to China in search of traditional Chinese remedies, but Li Jianjun, head of Mr Deng's clinic, believes  western patients suffering spinal injuries and strokes would benefit from its intensive rehabilitation programmes.

'We can provide an intensive, multi-disciplinary programme. The rates are very reasonable, and as you see with Jason, the results are very good.'

He plans to leave at least 10 beds in the Beijing clinic open to patients from Britain  and Ireland as a trial measure.

As Mr Clarke prepares to leave China he says he will miss the pretty nurses and the good food, particularly the jiaozi, or pork and onion dumplings the hospital serves - and the  first Chinese word he learned.



Paralysed - until a miracle cure in Beijing