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Then began the long wait to see if it all worked.

Photo by Jean Levac / Ottawa Citizen

Damaged nerves regrow at a snail’s pace — only about one millimetre per day — and the rerouted nerve in Raglin’s arm had to stretch 30 centimetres to reach the muscles in his hand.

For a full year after the surgery, Raglin felt nothing at all. Then, in February, his index finger twitched, and about a month ago his fingers opened for the first time in nine years during an occupational therapy session at The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre.

“It was kind of a shock,” he said in an interview. “And it’s really moving now: There’s a lot of nerves touching muscles that are getting stronger … Every iteration, it just gets more and more exciting.”

Raglin can now unfold his fingers from the palm of his hand, and grip onto implements such as a fork, a shaver and a toothbrush. “I still need help from people because they have to, for instance, put a shaver into my hand, but I can now hold that shaver and manipulate it to shave my face,” he said.

The muscles in his hand have atrophied from lack of use, and they tire easily. But with more physical therapy, and more practice, he can easily envision the day he’ll pick up a fork from the table and feed himself.

Raglin is using a different nerve pathway to activate the muscles in his hand, so it will take some time for his brain to adjust to the new system. He has learned to close his fingers on something by flexing his bicep. In time, however, it’s expected his brain will figure out how to separate the triggers for his hand and his bicep.