At first Joshua Gough thought he had pulled a muscle in his back. He took a few days' break from his warehouse job, popped some painkillers and thought that was that.

Within a week, he went from losing feeling in his toes to complete paralysis from the hips down. Doctors found a pus-filled abscess on his spinal cord and removed it but he still can't stand, let alone walk.

Joshua Gough, left, uses a VR headset at Prince of Wales Hospital. Credit:Steven Siewert

Throughout the highs and lows of intensive rehabilitation at Prince of Wales Private Hospital in Randwick, what has reminded him of the simple joys of walking is virtual reality (VR) therapy.

"When I first saw the VR headset I was a bit edgy because I didn't understand it, I had only heard about PlayStation VR," Mr Gough, 27, from Fairfield, said.