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Jerry Piccola “Maggot” was a daredevil skydiver and BASE jumper from NYC.
His favorite hobby was to jump off buildings and other objects and open and fly his canopy to land softly back on the ground. Jerry, like some of us, was like a bird, taking a rest on top of an object and then taking off for some flight time!
Maggot had about 6000 skydives and 300 BASE jumps and at some point in time, he was one of the best skydivers in the whole world competing in one of the most prestigious skydiving teams.
Maggot also had the personality to go with!
Maggot was 33, short, skinny but muscular, with clear hyperactivity, and a strong belief in himself. Jerry was also a natural philanthropist.
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On the night of July 12 2008, Maggot was involved in a motorcycle accident in NYC.
He suffered several injuries. Despite the use of a helmet, he suffered a severe skull fracture but with no brain damage. He also broke several thoracic vertebrae, many ribs, his shoulder, and elbow.
His spinal cord was not completely severed but as of 2008 USA medicine, he was paralyzed chest down.
In my opinion, Jerry's only chance to walk again was stem cells treatment that he was going to get at the ICM Clinic in Costa Rica. Here is the info on the clinic:
Institute for Cellular Medicine
clinic@cellmedicine.com
(506)-2296-7726 Extension 214
Stem cells could have helped neurogenesis (creation of new neurons) on his spine.
Here is some basic background:
Some recent papers (only first author is shown):
What Condition Could Stem Cells Help First?, Begley, Sharon Interlandi, Jeneen.Newsweek 7/7/2008, Vol. 152 Issue 1/2, p58-58.
Application of autologous bone marrow stem cells in the therapy of spinal cord injury patients. Chernykh, ER. BULLETIN OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 143 (4): 543-547 APR 2007.
Combined transplantation of neural stem cells and olfactory ensheathing cells for the repair of spinal cord injuries. Ao, Q. MEDICAL HYPOTHESES 69 (6): 1234-1237 2007.
Combined treatment of neurotrophin-3 gene and neural stem cells is propitious to functional recovery after spinal cord injury. Zhang, LY. CELL TRANSPLANTATION 16 (5): 475-481 2007.
Engineering injured spinal cord with bone marrow-derived stem cells and hydrogel-based matrices: a glance at the state of the art. Perale, G. JOURNAL OF APPLIED BIOMATERIALS & BIOMECHANICS 6 (1): 1-8 JAN-APR 2008.
Enhanced regeneration in spinal cord injury by concomitant treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and neuronal stem cells. Pan, HC. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE 15 (6): 656-664 JUN 2008.
In vivo tracking of stem cells in brain and spinal cord injury. Sykova. ENEUROTRAUMA: NEW INSIGHTS INTO PATHOLOGY AND TREATMENT 161: 367-383 2007.
Phenotypic characterization of neural stem cells from human fetal spinal cord: Synergistic effect of LIF and BMP4 to generate astrocytes. Weible, MW. GLIA 55 (11): 1156-1168 AUG 15 2007.
Multipotent embryonic spinal cord stem cells expanded by endothelial factors and Shh/RA promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury. Lowry, Natalia. Experimental Neurology Feb2008, Vol. 209 Issue 2, p510-522.
Stem cells and biomaterials for the treatment of spinal cord injury. Sykova, E. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A 14 (5): 779-780 OP263 MAY 2008.
Stem Cells for the Treatment of Neurological Disorders. Khanna, Aparna. CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets 2008, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p98-109.
Stem cells for the treatment of spinal cord injury. Coutts, Margaret. Experimental Neurology Feb2008, Vol. 209 Issue 2, p368-377.
The use of stem cells' hematopoietic stimulating factors therapy following spinal cord injury. Divani, AA. ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 35 (10): 1647-1656 OCT 2007.
Transplantation of human neural stem cells over-expressing Olig2, enhances remyelination and locomotor recovery following spinal cord injury. Hwang, DH. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY 14: 153-153 Suppl. 1 AUG 2007.
Extramedullary chitosan channels promote survival of transplanted neural stem and progenitor cells and create a tissue bridge after complete spinal cord transection. Nomura, H. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A 14 (5): 649-665 MAY 2008.
Motor function recovery of patients with traumatic spinal corddisease in the long-term period after intrathecal transplantation of autologous hematopoietic stem cells. Brukhovetsky, ASXENOTRANSPLANTATION 14 (5): 537-538 SEP 2007.
Autologous mobilized stem cells of
peripheral blood in the complex treatment of spinal cord injury.
Bryukhovetskiy, AS. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY 14: 16-16 Suppl. 1 AUG
2007.
Jerry is helping a paraplegic jumper (Stephen Boyle) to BASE jump.
At Bridge Day 2006, Maggot (right) and the author (left) helped paraplegic jumper Stephen Boyle (center) to leap off the New River Gorge Bridge in WV.
On July 29 2008, Jerry passed away due to complications from his injuries and surgeries despite his remarkable recovery up to that point. His death came very unexpected. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome was one of the major course of his death.
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Who is writing is Nick Rugai. I was a long-time Jerry’s friend. I had been known Jerry for many years and he and I shared many skydiving and BASE jumping adventures, among one million jack-ass moments!
I hold a Ph.D. in Systems Science from State University of New York and my research is Theoretical Neuroscience. I own Nitro Rigging LLC and I am an adjunct Professor at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL.
Believe in yourself.
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Chronicle:
July 12, 2008: Maggot crashes his motorcycle.
July 13, 2008: Maggot received his first surgery for his head trauma.
July 17, 2008: The search for funds begun.
July 18, 2008: As of 13:00, Maggot is in surgery for his spinal column trauma.
July 18, 2008: www.BidonMaggot.org has been registered.
July 18, 2008: Work has begun with the State of Florida to file The Bid on Maggot! Foundation.
July 18, 2008: At 19:00 circa, Maggot is out the OR. He had a spinal fusion T1 to T6.
July 21, 2008: http://www.hunterimagery.com/maggot_pics/
July 29, 2008: Jerry passes away due to complications, mainly Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.
August 11, 2008: The Bid on Maggot! Foundation is officially filed with the State of Florida.