Wearable robotic suit could help disabled to walk

Cyborg-type exoskeleton for use after strokes, spinal cord injuries

A Japanese company has created a robotic exoskeleton that is designed to help make disabled people mobile again, enabling them to stand up, walk and even climb stairs.

Cyberdyne Inc. has built what it calls Robot Suit HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) — cyborg-type robotic suit. The exoskeleton, which is worn much like the suit in the movie Iron Man, is built to be used in medical rehabilitation or to help people who have suffered a stroke or spinal cord injury, for example, become mobile again. It also could be used for people doing physically demanding work in factories or at disaster sites, according to the company. Continue Reading »

Learning to live a new kind of life

Gothenburg teen with spinal cord injury learns about change

She’s paralyzed from her belly button to her toes but Aubrey Freeze was more than ready to return home.

After spending more than three months in hospitals, the Gothenburg High School senior was released from Craig Hospital in Denver, CO, on April 1.

“I’m doing good now that I’m home,” she said. Continue Reading »

Injured hockey player, Derek Zike, recovering well

Ann Arbor — Derek Zike and his family do not shy from stating the truth.

Derek’s life will never be “normal” again.

But normal is a subjective term.

Derek, 17, is working out his version, trying to create a world as close to the one he knew before the evening of Jan. 16, when he suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed while playing in a hockey tournament at the Ice Cube in Ann Arbor. Continue Reading »

Bad to the bone

After trampoline flip nearly paralyzes Oswego teen, he and surgeon warn to think first before jumping into play

Kameron Botka of Oswego says he has a “history of doing stupid stuff,” but after several broken bones during his childhood and a trampoline accident requiring spinal surgery last fall, the junior at Oswego High School insists he’s more safety-minded now.

The surgeon who performed the five-hour operation that spared Kameron from life with limited mobility says it’s common for young people to be unaware of injuries that can impact the rest of their lives. Continue Reading »

A walking miracle: Swampscott’s Tom Smith overcame an injury that nearly put him in a wheelchair for life

No one was sure if Tom Smith was going to be able to chase down the skater that had slipped away from the pack for a breakaway — least of all his own goalie.

According to Smith’s memory, he never made it.

His body tells a much different story.

Smith, a Swampscott native who was playing for the Northern New England team in Hockey Night in Boston’s summer tournament, has no recollection of advancing any further than the red line Continue Reading »

People with disabilities can still have that drive

For most people, driving is a symbol of independence and freedom. It’s also often necessary for work and for obtaining the necessities of life. It helps maintain our ability to socialize or take a long-anticipated vacation.

Unfortunately, an illness or injury can sometimes make it difficult for drivers to return to the road. Fortunately, there are people who can help. Continue Reading »

Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act Signed by President Obama as Part of Omnibus Public Land Bill

Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation expresses appreciation to Congressional co-sponsors for passing first legislation specific to the paralysis community

SHORT HILLS, N.J., March 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, the national, non-profit organization dedicated to finding cures and treatments for spinal cord injuries and improving the lives of people living with paralysis, applauds President Obama for signing the Omnibus Public Lands Bill. Passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on March 25 and the U.S. Senate on January 15, Title XIV of the Bill contains the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act. The Act was named for the late Christopher Reeve and his wife Dana, whose courage and grace in the face of adversity, coupled with their extraordinary activism, were an inspiration to millions around the world. Continue Reading »

‘He’s every kid’s hero’

WALLED LAKE – From great adversity, heroes can emerge. They then can inspire and lead others to become more than they ever imagined. Walled Lake Central High School physical education teacher Kirk Pedersen, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury Oct. 25 when he fell out of a tree stand and broke his neck, is considered a hero by staff and the 1,600 students at the school where he has taught for four years.

Pedersen, 38, of Northville and a graduate of Eastern Michigan University, was transferred from a facility in Louisville, Ky., on March 25 to the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids. Continue Reading »

Ms. Wheelchair Virginia Pageant 2009

Contestants gathered from all over the state for a very special pageant in the Valley Saturday. It’s the 2009-2010 Ms. Wheelchair Virginia pageant.

The event was held at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Fishersville to celebrate the accomplishments of Virginians with disabilities.

Contestants say it’s a great way to get together for a good time, while inspiring and motivating others. Continue Reading »

U.S. behind on embryonic stem cell research

When I taught at Rutgers University, my department chair was Wise Young, a pioneer in spinal chord rehabilitation. The Keck Center, where the research was done, was conveniently in the same building as my honors class, and they graciously gave us tours. This state-of-the-art facility is designed with low lab benches, so wheelchair-bound people can participate in the research and work in the lab. Dr. Young’s lab has been successful in getting a paralyzed rat with spinal chord injury to walk again. Because of the lack of funding in the U.S., foreign countries — especially China — have taken up the cause, and the U.S. is again left behind in scientific research. There is a network of 24 major spinal-cord injury centers in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Dr. Young writes: “For nearly eight years, the Bush Administration has suppressed not only embryonic stem cell (ESC) research but all stem cell research, even though stem cells are widely acknowledged by scientists to be the most important biomedical advance of the decade. Continue Reading »