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

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