Newcastle forward Alex McKinnon has had weak signs of muscle contraction in his legs as he continues his recovery from a serious spinal injury.
The Knights released an update on McKinnon's condition on Wednesday, with the 22-year-old claiming he's had some improvement over the past three weeks including increased movement in his left arm.
"Had a few little changes ... a lot more movement in my left arm," he said.
"When I'm on a tilt table on my back with the physio, I'm starting to do these little squats. I was pretty stoked about that.
"That's obviously a great thing when my goal is to be back walking. Obviously to have a bit of movement in my legs is massive for me and something that I will carry with me through the weeks where I don't get much improvement."
The exercise McKinnon was discussing involves an assisted partial strengthening of his legs with the tilt table removing the resistance of gravity.
McKinnon says he's keeping upbeat though he knows he faces a long recovery process that could be unknown for up to two years.
"It's going to be a tough ride and I realise next weekend I'm not going to be back to normal or even increasing," he said.
"I realise it's going to take a long time to realise where I'm at."
McKinnon is still lacking fine motor control in his hands and says that is a particular area he is aiming to get results in.
"That's one thing I'd really like to work on which I can't really control," he said.
"Just to get back to simple things like answering a phone call or texting.
"Over the next few weeks, I would like to get my fingers back but, when you talk about things like this, I can't control them.
"I'm very happy with what's come back so far but, obviously, I've got a long way to go in the process."
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