Recovery takes a long time. Most recovery occur within 6 months but many people continue to recover function for a year or more.
A recent poll of the CareCure Community suggests that 61% recovered function more than one year after injury. In another poll, 16-18% of people who are “complete” spinal cord injury recovered additional function 3 or more years after injury.
A recent study detailed how Christopher Reeve recover function over 7 years after his injury. So, recovery frequently continues for years after injury.