How paralysed scientist healed himself through power of chi and alternative medicine
Neurologist Charles Krebs, left paralysed after a diving accident, got back on his feet thanks to kinesiology, a mix of Chinese acupressure and Western medicine. He's since spent his life exploring the science behind it and perfecting the therapy.
Charles Krebs didn't set out to be a star in the world of alternative medicine. He did a degree in physiology at Boston University, then a PhD in evolutionary biology and paleontology and followed that up with a degree in marine science. After teaching at St Mary's College in Maryland for years he moved to Australia in 1983 to work as a marine research scientist. So far so very mainstream scientific - until a near fatal scuba diving accident left him paralysed and set him on a journey to heal himself through alternative medicine.
The accident happened soon after he arrived in Australia. Aged 32, he was on a dive trip with friends at Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, a remote spot just off the coast. All were well experienced and they had been preparing for days for the final dive to 60 metres by gradually diving deeper each day and taking the other necessary precautions. The dive itself went fine. Back on the boat, his wetsuit off, Krebs noticed a medical dive book. He flicked through the pages and began reading the section on the "bends", also known as decompression sickness.
There are two types of "bends" - the first is when nitrogen forms in your joints, it's very painful but goes away in a few days. The second is when nitrogen forms in your spinal cord, it swells up and blocks the blood flow. According to the book, there are two things that confirm type two bends: you get locomotive incoordination, in other words you stagger; and you can't pee.
"I thought, 'Oh, this is very interesting'. Then I had to take a pee so I walked to the head of the boat and my arms were shaking and I thought, 'What's this?' I got to the head of the boat and I couldn't pee," says Krebs.
He had type two bends. Through a series of fortunate coincidences help rallied around fast - experts in decompression sickness were not far away, a special saturation chamber was located - but despite the valiant attempts of his wife and others to get help he spent 5½ hours waiting for a helicopter as paralysis spread from his feet to his neck.
I would pick a muscle that doesn't work and would run chi down that nerve pathway to that muscle hour after hour. After days or a week, suddenly I would contact the muscle.
"Because I'm a neurologist and taught anatomy and physiology, I know the whole nervous system, I can visualise it in my head. And I was just seeing that L4, L5 - I was just watching myself become progressively paralysed, but I had this view that I would get decompressed and everything would be OK," says Krebs.