Even today treatment focuses on stabilizing the patient to prevent damage from spreading, with surgery to decompress the spine and steroids to prevent inflammation and protect remaining neurons.

FORBES: To Walk Again

"When I first arrived, we were treating the babies and stabilizing them on methadone and then discharging them to have outpatient treatment, " he said.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The arrests came hours after President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who was widely viewed as a stabilizing political force in Iraq, left the country to undergo treatment from a stroke.

CNN: 18 killed as car bombs target Shiite worshipers in Iraq

The arrest of Esawi's bodyguards came just hours after President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who is widely viewed as a stabilizing political force in Iraq, left the country to undergo treatment for cancer in Germany.

CNN: One year later, Iraq war's legacy remains unclear