Asia Talent Cup (ATC) rider Danial Syahmi Shahril owes the doctors and staff at Kuala Lumpur Sports Medicine Centre (KLSMC) for not only saving his career but also for accelerating recovery with the use of stem cells.
Danial, who was 16 at the time, suffered a horrific crash at the season-ending ATC race at Sepang Circuit in November, 2018, which caused massive bone loss to his right tibial (shin) bone.
After receiving early treatment at the track's medical centre, Danial was airlifted to Kuala Lumpur GH (GHKL) for treatment. He was then transferred to KLSMC 48 hours later for further treatment.
A week after his arrival, KLSMC applied an Ilizarov frame to his leg to allow for bone transport and promote bone regeneration.
A week after the Ilizarov frame was applied, doctors began injecting autologous peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC), harvested from Danial's body, into the growing bone.
Just 10 months later Danial had re-grown 13 centimetres of his tibia bone, which is substantial progress as far as bone regeneration is concerned.
Danial was able to return to riding early this year and resumed racing at the Malaysian Superbike Championship in September.
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Saw Khay Yong said Danial's recovery would have taken longer without the help of stem cells.
Dr Saw was one of three KLSMC doctors, including Dr Ranjit Singh Gill and Dr Low Tze Choong, who had overseen Danial's recovery.
"The use of stem cells is to make the bones heal faster and to make it strong," said Dr. Saw.
"We managed to rebuild his (tibia) bone at twice the speed of what it would normally take using the same (llizarov) frame.
"We could have also rebuilt his bones without stem cells, but it would have likely taken two years."
Dr. Saw added that stem cells are also used to treat various other types of injuries.
Danial will return to the ATC next year.
Former national Datuk Lee Chong Wei is among the athletes who have received stem cell treatment at KLSMC.
Chong Wei had suffered an ankle injury roughly eight weeks before the 2012 London Olympics, and many feared that he would not recover in time for the event.
Chong Wei was, however, able to recover in time and went on to win a silver in London.