Entrepreneur behind man's stem cell bid

A Queenstown entrepreneur is throwing his support behind a New Zealand man who has been a tetraplegic since 2000, when some horseplay went horribly wrong.

When he was 19, Ashley Thomson, of Auckland, was play-fighting with friends when he was slammed upside down on to his neck, fracturing vertebrae and leaving him a tetraplegic.

Despite the major challenge, Mr Thomson (now 28) refused to give up hope and began researching stem cell transplantation treatment.

He has been accepted for treatment by Dr Geeta Shroff in New Delhi, India.

He is thought to be the first New Zealander with a spinal cord injury to undergo the treatment.

Mr Thomson has already raised the $US70,000 ($NZ96,300) fee and completed his first treatment.

He has regained some movement and sensation in his right foot, but has been told that to walk again he required $US100,000 to pay for five more treatments.

Enter Sam Hazledine and his company, MedRecruit.

Dr Hazledine is no stranger to overcoming the odds, having sustained a life-threatening head injury in 2002.

The 30-year-old was a top competitor in skier-cross - and attending medical school in Dunedin - at the time of the incident, which left him in a coma for two days.

Doctors said he was unlikely to function at a high level again, was unlikely to be able to return to medical school and would certainly never ski again.

However, the extreme sports enthusiast would have none of it - within two months he was back at medical school and in 2003 he won the national freeski title.

Last year, MedRecruit attempted to sell a calendar of nude men, raising money for the charity KidsCan, but the charity refused to accept any proceeds, deeming the venture "inappropriate".

Dr Hazledine is now lending his support to Mr Thomson by launching a calendar to help raise money for the stem cell treatment, with 100% of the proceeds from sales going to the Ashley Thomson Trust, Rise Up.

"Superman for Ashley Thomson" features nine men in "superman undies", inspired by the late Christopher Reeve, the original Superman, who also sustained a spinal cord injury.

The "incredible and risky" images show the men wearing their "Superman undies, or supies as is the correct terminology", in all corners of the globe.

Dr Hazledine said he and a group of friends started the "supies" tradition several years ago - trying to take photos of themselves in the most extreme places in a bid to outdo each other.

However, after Dr Hazledine saw a documentary on Mr Thomson and his battle to walk this year, he and his friends decided it was time to use the supies for the cause.

"Ashley is an inspiration," Dr Hazledine said.

"So many people get knocked back by life and don't get back up, but Ashley has had a setback greater than many of us can imagine, but he's doing everything he can to walk again.

"It's a group of friends . . . they didn't take a lot of convincing to put it together.

"Superman undies is [a concept] we've played with for a while, but earlier this year I saw a documentary on Ashley and I thought `That guy's incredible' and we wanted to do something to help him.

"Whether it [the treatment] works or not - he's getting results already - we just wanted to support him and do our bit."

Dr Hazledine said he had given Prime Minister John Key a copy of the calendar and he "loved it".

Mr Thomson said he was humbled by the efforts of Dr Hazledine and his friends.

"It's awesome that people I've never met are doing so much for me. It means a lot.

"I'm doing everything I can to Rise Up and every bit of support really helps and is a step forward."

The calendars cost $15 each and can be ordered by visiting www.medrecruit.com and clicking on the Supermen for Ashley Thomson Trust link, or by calling 0800 MEDRECRUIT.

The company is paying for the cost of the calendars, with the design work donated by James Walshe, of Scratch Design in Wellington, so the money from every sale goes to Mr Thomson.

For more information on the Ashley Thomson Trust, Rise Up, visit www.riseup.co.nz.