brainstem stroke recovery

I was conversing with a brainstem survivor and finally remembered what I thought was one of my earliest understandings of neuroplasticity.
from wikipedia Paul Bach-y-Rita
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bach-y-Rita
you probably want to go directly to the site because then you can follow the links.
I remember reading about him having his father basically starting over by crawling on the floor.
Research into neuroplasticity to treat stroke victims
In 1958, Bach-y-Rita's father, Pedro, suffered a cerebral infarction (stroke) which caused paralysis to one side of his body and damaged his ability to speak. George Bach-y-Rita -- a psychiatrist and Paul's brother -- succeeded in treating Pedro so that he was able to lead a normal life, despite the opinion of several doctors that this was impossible. When Pedro died, an autopsy, performed by Dr. Mary Jane Aguilar revealed that Paul's father Pedro had suffered a major stroke and suffered severe damage to a large portion of his brain stem, which had not repaired itself after the stroke. The fact that he had made such a significant recovery suggested that his brain had reorganized itself, providing evidence for neuroplasticity.[13]

And a better description of what his son had the dad do to recover.
http://www.tbi.org.au/uploaded/Documents/Erev%20RH%20sermon%205769%20Rabbi%20Zylberman.pdf
Copied here since site is now gone.

That was about when Pedro Bach-Y-Rita, a previously healthy widower

still working in his late 60’s in New York, suffered a massive stroke.

Initially Pedro underwent the then standard rehabilitation process.

After some weeks the doctors called one of his sons, George, a medical

student, to arrange for his father to be managed in a nursing home.

Pedro couldn’t move. George was told that his father needed high

level.

Back then, George didn’t know anything about the accepted forms of

rehabilitation.

He took his dad home and he made a decision.

Basically he said, “Papa, you learned to walk as a baby first by

crawling, we’re going to do that with you now.”

www.tbi.org.au

Rabbi Gersh Zylberman

Temple Beth Israel, St. Kilda, Australia

Much to the outrage of the neighbors, who couldn’t believe what this

son was inflicting on his father, George put his dad on the floor and

over months encouraged him first to reach objects and then to crawl

for objects.

Next he got him up, cruising along walls.

In a similar way Pedro gradually, step by step, re-learned to walk, relearned

to type on a typewriter, and after a year or so he was even

able to return to work and remarry.

What a remarkable recovery.

Pedro lived another active seven years of life.

He was climbing a mountain in Columbia when he suffered a massive

heart attack and died.

The autopsy showed something astonishing.

The area of the brain affected by the stroke remained scarred.

All the areas usually in charge of movement were clearly damaged

beyond hope of repair.

Over that year of intensive rehabilitation Pedro’s brain had apparently

completely rewired itself around the damaged area.