(WSBT) A big development in scientific circles made news last week. Researchers think skin cells may one day regenerate any kind of human cell. That's what controversial stem cells do right now.

A woman from Mishawaka had an experimental stem cell transplant. She is regaining feeling and can walk with the help of leg braces.

Many people remember Sarah Schools Clay as a star basketball player for Mishawaka High School. In 2001, she was in an ATV accident that paralyzed her from the waist down.

In May 2006, Sarah went to Portugal for a stem cell transplant that used nasal stem cells.

This procedure isn't available in the United States because it's still a controversial issue and funding is not available.

But it's been done in Portugal for six years and more than 100 people have been treated.

Sarah's steps are small but her progress is astounding.

"It just amazes me every day, just recognizing a new pain," said Sarah who underwent a stem cell transplant last year.

"I've come a long way," she said.

And so has science.

Around the time of Sarah's accident, Dr. Carlos Lima was conducting a clinical trial in Portugal called Olfactory Mucosa Autograft Transplantation. It involves removing scar tissue from the spinal cord and replacing it with stem cells from the nose.

In The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, Dr. Lima says the nasal cells undergo "rapid, continuous regeneration, so it is an ideal source for repairing the spinal cord and brain." He says all of his patients regained some movement in their arms and legs.

But when Sarah heard about the surgery, she wasn't sure.

"I'd gotten to the point where I was, 'Now it's normal to be in a wheelchair and normal not to walk.' I was pretty much content," said Sarah.

She'd gotten married and started pharmacy school at Butler University. And she was afraid the surgery wouldn't work.

"You get your hopes up and think, 'I might be able to walk again.' And you don't want to get yourself that pumped up because it's no sure thing," said Sarah.

After some prayer, she changed her mind.

In May 2006, Dr. Lima performed the transplant and Sarah began the lengthy recovery with her mom and husband at her side.

"It's hard," said Sarah.

She had physical therapy, and months later, she regained feeling in her hips.

"Kinda had that aha look, like I did it, and it's functional," said Sarah.

She says it's made her think more about the stem cell debate, especially after U.S. and Japanese doctors announced last week that adult skin cells could be turned into stem cells by adding four strands of DNA.

"Rather than staying with the controversy, we are trying to find a way to use the stem cells in a safer and more politically correct way. I think that's the way science should be moving," said Sarah.

Notre Dame's Carter Snead served on President Bush's Council on Bioethics. He says these approaches are the most significant scientific breakthroughs since 1996 when Dolly the sheep was cloned.

"This is an extraordinary development because it alleviates all the moral controversy that surrounded embryonic stem cell research," said Snead.

It's even gotten praise from Indiana Right to Life, a pro life organization.

Snead says the use of nasal stem cells and skin cells shouldn't face legal and funding barriers, making it more accessible for people in the U.S.

"This research by contrast is fully eligible for federal funding and no taxpayer would be compelled to pay for something that is morally reprehensible," said Snead.

For now, Sarah's still moving around in her wheelchair most of the time, but she says stem cell research is making her dream of walking a possibility.

"There is a very real chance that that could happen, that I could walk again."

Doctors say they don't know what the long-term effects of stem cell transplants are.

In Dr. Lima's trials, he found no serious side effects; but some patients lost some feeling in their arms and legs while others experienced tingling.

These transplants are so new that local doctors didn't feel knowledgeable enough to talk to WSBT News.

Sarah says she's not alone in getting this kind of transplant. She says her surgery and the success she's seeing has prompted other Hoosiers to go to Portugal and have the procedure done, too.