An Irish man who became paralyzed in a fall has voluntarily moved his legs for the first time in four years.
According to scientists in Los Angeles, Adventurer Mark Pollock "took thousands of steps in a robotic exoskeleton device during five days of training — and for two weeks afterwards".
Mark lost his sight in 1998 and later became the first blind man to race to the South Pole. In 2010, he fell from a second-story window and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down.
The 39-year-old has become the first person with chronic, complete paralysis to regain enough voluntary control to actively work with a robotic device designed to enhance mobility.
Researchers are not describing the achievement as “walking” pointing out that "no one who is completely paralyzed has independently walked in the absence of the robotic device and electrical stimulation of the spinal cord."
A Paralysis Research Programme at Trinity College in Dublin will now continue the work that Mark and the team UCLA started.
Mark is, understandably, very excited with his progress saying "stepping with the stimulation and having my heart rate increase, along with the awareness of my legs under me, was addictive. I wanted more".
"That was a very exciting, emotional moment for me, having spent my whole adult life before breaking my back as an athlete", he added.
Mark's fiance, Simone George, has thanked supporters for their messages. She wrote on Facebook "Thanks for the support, lads. It's great the results have finally been published, and just when we've announced that we are pushing on with this research in Dublin. Feels like momentum now after so much shoulder to the wheel..."
