Robotic Exoskeleton Helps Paraplegics Walk
Exoskeleton are full of science-fiction coolness. But an exoskeleton that enables paraplegics to walk? That is a whole lot of double rainbow epicness! The Rex Robotic Exoskeleton is designed to give paraplegics the ability to perform daily tasks while standing. Pros: Gives you the chance to walk again, you look like a you're Ripley driving a loader. Cons: Costs $150,000, you look like a you're Ripley driving a loader.
Note to self: If you become paralyzed, make sure you have Bruce Wayne money.
Check out the video below to see the suit in action.
Nike Ad Shows Strong Perspective for People in Wheelchairs
The new "No Excuses" ad from Nike brings a refreshing perspective to people with disabilities. Featuring UW-Whitewater Wheelchair Basketball Player Matt Scott, the ad shows Scott from the chest-down, moving around the basketball court. Scott is reciting various excuses as he rolls around the court until he stops and says "yeah, and my feet hurt" as he rolls away. It is a very poignant clip with a great message. Check it out.
Zach Anner is My New Hero!
I saw Zach Anner's interview on Attack of the Show and he is awesome! Anner submitted a video to Oprah's My Own Show competition and already has more than 9 million votes! He has Cerebral Palsy, which he believes is the sexiest of the palsys, but his sense of humor and great personality have made him an internet sensation. I highly recommend checking out his videos. They're excellent!
The View from Section G
The view from Section G at Chase Field is absolutely breathtaking. You are mere feet from home plate and are up close and personal with all of the athletes, coaches and umpires. Along with the great view, you can actually hear conversations between the players, even the colorful, foul-mouthed screaming from the home plate ump and Giants Manager Bruce Bochy could be heard with amazing clarity. Not only that, you can even feel the slight mist of chew spit as Pablo Sandoval, a.k.a. Kung Fu Panda, hocks his chewing tobacco in the batter’s box. In case you didn’t know already, say away from tobacco. It’s a tumor-causing, teeth-staining, smelly, puking habit.
Here is a pic and video from my seats at the Arizona Diamondbacks game against the San Francisco Giants on 5/20/2010. The view from Section G at Chase Field is absolutely breathtaking. You are mere feet from home plate and are up close and personal with all of the athletes, coaches and umpires. Along with the great view, you can actually hear conversations between the players, even the colorful, foul-mouthed screaming from the home plate ump and Giants Manager Bruce Bochy could be heard with amazing clarity. Not only that, you can even feel the slight mist of chew spit as Pablo Sandoval, a.k.a. Kung Fu Panda, hocks his chewing tobacco in the batter’s box. In case you didn’t know already, say away from tobacco. It’s a tumor-causing, teeth-staining, smelly, puking habit.
Gross and vulgar habits aside, these are great seats for people with disabilities who are looking for wheelchair accessible seats. But that is expected from $150 tickets. One thing I must say is that you definitely need to have your head on a swivel. I was almost pegged by two foul balls, one was a pop fly and had plenty of time to move, but the other was a screaming line drive. The railing in front of me did its job marvelously as I avoided any serious injury. But foul balls are simply a part of the game.
If you are a little leery of the price or danger of foul balls, I recommend sitting in section 105-W in right field or 145-W in centerfield. They are both good alternatives and are awesome and cheap sections with accessible seating.
By the way, the Dbacks won the game 8-7.
My Run in with Airport Security
I'm leaving on a jet plane... If security stops hassling me.This actual event incident happened about a month ago, but I thought I needed to share my experience. As you may or may not know, I play power soccer, an electric wheelchair sport for people with disabilities. And because the sport has teams and tournaments across the country, it requires a lot of travel. So this particular incident occurred when I was flying to a soccer tournament in Santa Barbara with my teammates.
It started off normal enough; we unloaded our bags at the curb and checked in. There was nothing out of the ordinary until we approached the security checkpoint to go through to the gate. Once we showed them our IDs, my teammates and I were escorted to an area near the metal detectors so TSA Security Guards can inspect our wheelchairs.
For those who are unaware of the procedure, the security guards generally swab down a few areas of the wheelchair to check for any unauthorized substances and then do a pat down to make sure we aren’t caring any concealed weapons.
Notice how I said generally… This time was anything other than routine.
Within a few minutes, my two teammates went through the entire process with ease and were granted access to the boarding area. But of course, with my luck, my inspection wasn’t so smooth.
At first, things seemed to be going fine. The security guard swabbed my chair and patted me down with no problem. After he collected the swabs, he went to place them in the machine to analyze the samples. Once the tests were done, the guard returns with one more swab and a bewildered look on his face. Generally, this is the time he smiles and says “You’re good to go,” and sends me on my way, but not this time.
“Are you able to get yourself out of the chair?” He asked clutching a swab.
As much as I wanted to whip out some witty, satirical remark that would make Zach Braff proud, I controlled my anger and replied, “No, I am quad and can’t move my arms and legs.”
This is where it gets very interesting. The security guard proceeds to explain to me that he needs to check my seat cushion and the bottom of my pants before he can let me go to my gate. He then asks how I normally get out of the chair because I can’t go until he checks my cushion. I then tell him that I use a Hoyer lift to get me out of the chair and didn’t have one available to use. He then asks if a group of people could just lift me out of the chair. I politely respond back and explain to him that my bones and muscles are very brittle and sensitive, so that idea would be dangerous.
But this security guard was having none of it.
With no real solution, the security guard goes to get his supervisor and some other hands to help lift me out of the chair. While the guard is away, my dad meets up with me after going through the security checkpoint. I tell him about the situation and saying that he was less than pleased would be a huge understatement.
Once the guards and the supervisor return, my dad and I implore them to just let me go without checking my seat. We even tell them that I have never had to get out of my chair before whenever I’ve gone through airport security on past flights. They just say that this is procedure and I can’t go until they check this final test.
We then question their response that it is procedure because my other two teammates were cleared within a couple minutes and were never asked to get out of their chairs.
“You are my responsibility,” remarks the security guard. “I’m not concerned with them.”
But why was I singled out and why couldn’t I go without them checking my cushion? If it was procedure, why weren’t my teammates asked to get out of their chair? We asked the guards and supervisor repeatedly, but never got a straight answer.
At this point, we were at a stalemate; I couldn’t get out of my chair and the guards weren’t going to let me through until they checked my cushion. The only option they gave us was to have several guards lift me up, but we weren’t going to do that. I wasn’t about to have three random guys lift me up who had no idea or proper training to lift people with disabilities. So finally, my dad just lifted me out of my chair so they could run the test and let us go.
The whole ordeal was ridiculous and very disheartening to see how the TSA employees treated a person with a disability. I never had to go through something like that before and can’t believe that I was treated in that manner. If you use a wheelchair and are traveling, please keep my experience at Sky Harbor Airport in mind. I hope you don’t encounter the same problems that I did.
What makes it even worse is that I was never even asked to get out of my chair at security during the checkpoint process on the way back. Procedure? Yeah, right.
Wait for it... Wait for it...
So this week, after five months, I finally received my new wheelchair. Everything seems to be working well, minus a few adjustments (that is a whole post in and of itself), but that isn’t what has me a little perturbed. I am completely baffled as to why it takes five months to get a new wheelchair.
If there is anyone who knows about slow and steady, it’s me. The tortoise and hare have both crossed the finish line 10 times since I’ve started writing this sentence. But at least I have a good excuse. The repair and insurance companies; what’s theirs?
I find it very hard to believe that it takes months to go through the entire process of fitting, approval, delivery and modification. And if I am completely wrong about this, I would love for someone to walk (or roll) me through the steps. I can eat my crow as well as the next guy.
But if there is no viable reason for the long turnaround time, something needs to change.
Contrary to popular belief, most people with disabilities are not hermits. We do more than just sit at home all day and veg out in front of the TV. Many people with disabilities do, in fact, have jobs and lead very active social lives. Besides, I need something to do in between Xbox Live matches and the next movie in my NetFlix queue.
So having to wait months for a new chair is simply unacceptable. If I didn’t have a back up chair, I would have been stuck in my room, sitting on my old, green recliner for more than five months. Last time I checked, taking off five months of work wouldn’t have been the best idea. That would mean no job, no social life, and most importantly, no Xbox or NetFlix.
I depend very heavily on my chair as my connection to the world and my livelihood, so when that is taken away from me, I am left confined in my own home and body. Not being a part of society for a day, let alone five months, is devastating, so something needs to be done.
I am already at the mercy of my disability; I can’t afford to be dragged along by meandering insurance companies and incompetent companies.
There is No Fate But What We Make
A couple weeks ago, I was talking to a family friend with my mom and he informed us about some unfortunate news; his wife recently had one of her legs amputated due to some health complications. And ever since her leg was amputated, she has not been very optimistic about her situation and recovery.
Her husband told us that she doesn’t put on her prosthetic leg very often and isn’t interested in physical therapy or becoming more active in everyday activities. As he conversed with my mom and me, you can see the concern he had for his wife all over his face.
After he gave us the update, he shrugged his shoulders and let out a great sigh.
“I don’t know what to do to get her to be more positive,” he said. “If you were in her situation, I sure you would be ecstatic if you still could walk.”
Our friend had a good point. I would give almost anything to walk again, but we all deal with pain and loss differently. He continued to talk about her situation and asked how I stayed so positive through all my health problems.
I didn’t really know what to say. Yes, I probably would handle her situation differently, but everything always looks different when your hindsight is 20/20.
When I was first told that I was paralyzed, I was shocked and saddened. While my situation was no laughing matter, I tried to look for something to smile about. In the end, all that mattered was the fact that I was still alive.
If I couldn’t walk, I would use a wheelchair; if I couldn’t do something, I would just ask for help. I wasn’t going to let my disability keep me from the life I wanted. Even though my body was broken, I was still the same person that I was before I got sick. My life may have turned down a path I didn’t want to travel, but if this was my path, I was going to make the best of it.
At the time, our friend asked me if I had any advice for his wife. I simply told him that she just needs to stay positive. Yes, her situation is unfortunate, but it is only her attitude that will make her life seem unlivable. If she keeps thinking that she can’t overcome adversity, that’s exactly what will happen.
Like Sarah Connor always says, “There’s no fate but what we make.”
If you want to live a life worth living, it’s simply up to you. Unless you are the leader of the Resistance and are continuously hunted by futuristic robots, then you may be out of luck.
Paralyzed Graffiti Artist Writes Again
Graffiti artist, Tony Quan is diagnosed with a degenerative condition called Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, aka Lou Gehrig’s disease, but with the help of a few of his friends, a little determination and about 50 bucks of electronic equipment, he’s painting and doing what he loves again just by using only the movements of his eyes.
Check out this great vid.
The Eyewriter from Evan Roth on Vimeo.
Algae and Light Help Injured Mice Walk Again
In a recent article by Wired Magazine, it was revealed that a team of Stanford graduate students used a plant algae and blue lights to help injured mice walk. The entire process is a little far-fetched, by the possibilities are very encouraging. If this has any implications on helping quadriplegics, sign me up. Who knows, maybe I'll turn into a neon glowing Swamp Thing!
Hey, at least I'll still have my engaging personality and be able to walk again!
The Wheelchair Recycler
One of Mr. Heim's masterpieces.I just wanted to give some props to David Heim, the Wheelchair Recycler. He runs a non-profit that makes wheelchairs for those who don't have insurance. As some who has battled insurance companies and gone months without a chair, I know this program is a huge help. A big THANKS and GREAT JOB to Mr. Heim!
To learn more about the organization or make a donation, visit the Wheelchair Recycler website.