Bringing Hope Back: Interview with Jason Gieser, Ekso Ambassador

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Amanda Boxtel

“Some People Have Lost Hope, & Ekso Really Brings That Back”

I met Jason in 2010 as Ekso Bionics (formerly Berkeley Bionics) was preparing to launch their bionic exoskeleton to the world (which was then known as eLEGS). Jason had a quiet calming demeanor and I instantly knew that he had experienced life. Jason never ceased to surprise with his joie de vivre and little gems of wisdom that seeped through into our conversation. I found myself not only intrigued with his story, but with his spirit. I wanted to know more. Read More +

Ekso Ambassador Profile: Jason Gieser

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Amanda Boxtel

“I want to be a good role model to my family and to reach out to as many people through sharing my life’s experiences to help others increase their quality of life.”

Date of Birth: March 28, 1980

Disability Type: T-3 ASIA A Spinal Cord Injury

Date of Injury: October 14, 2008

Residence: Discovery Bay, CA

Interests: Enjoying the outdoors; handcycling; anything on the water; spending time with family; camping; watching movies; vacations; traveling overseas; learning how to downhill ski.

All my life I have been a fighter! I’ve never given up hope to what most people would call the impossible. I knew I would walk again—there was never a doubt in my mind. It was just a matter of time. I felt that was God’s promise to me. I am excited to say that His promise was fulfilled. While my legs still do not work, it has not stopped me from walking in Ekso. Read More +

Ekso Bionics Interviews Sarah Anderson, Ekso Ambassador

Posted on March 9, 2012 by admin

BACK ON MY FEET AGAIN

As Sarah Anderson rises up in Ekso, her six-foot stature stands tall. She casts her eyes across the room and observes the world from her natural height, a perspective so different from what she’s become accustomed to – living her life in a wheelchair. We wanted to share a little more of her story with you. Sarah imparts some honest truths about when she sustained her chronic spinal chord injury, and her thoughts and feelings since.

If you haven’t yet read Sarah’s Profile or watched her video, here are some insights into Sarah’s background.

At 31, Sarah has truly lived life, and more than most at her young age. 8 ½ years ago on a warm summer’s day in June, a drunk driver struck the vehicle Sarah was a passenger in. Sarah sustained a chronic spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down (T10 ASIA C Spinal Cord Injury-Incomplete). Read More +

eLEGS Ambassador Thax Gets His Walk On

Posted on September 3, 2011 by admin

Paul Thacker

“Live every day like it’s your last!”

~ Paul Thacker A.K.A. Thax ~

Thax walks in eLEGS (Photo courtesy of Paul Thacker)

Full Name:
Paul Thacker
Nickname:
Thax
Date of Birth:
October 23, 1974
Disability Type:
T4 Spinal Cord Injury (AIS A Complete)
Date of Injury:
November 18, 2010
Residence:
Anchorage, AK – USA
Favorite Activities:
Snowmobiling, dirt biking, fly-fishing

My Background

I was born and raised in the great state of Alaska. I went to college at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota and graduated with a degree in biology pre-med. I grew up playing all kinds if sports and fell in love with hockey, which helped put me through college. After college, I played a couple years of professional hockey before going to work for Wells Fargo Financial. I spent nearly seven years with the company before leaving to explore a career as a professional snowmobiler – yes, call me crazy but I left a District Manager position with a six-figure salary, full benefits, with a full retirement package to JUMP snowmobiles for a living! Ha ha

Pivotal Moment

Not sure I have reached a main one yet. All decisions so far have gotten me to this point.

Life as it is now…

Life now hasn’t changed much as far as I am concerned. It takes me a little bit longer to do a few things but I am not much for excuses and am always up for a good challenge… and Lord knows this [walking in eLEGS] is up there on the list

eLEGS is a fantastic invention that allows people to get up and see the world at eye level again.
It’s food for a ‘paras’ body, mind and soul…

Visit Paul Thacker’s Official Site: http://paulthacker11.com

BIG AIR! Thax lives his passion (Photo courtesy of Paul Thacker)

Thax sits with his buddy TJ Lavin (Photo courtesy of Paul Thacker)

Thax driving his boat prior to his accident (Photo courtesy of Paul Thacker)

Dirt biking. Thax just can't help but get HUGE AIR! (Photo courtesy of Paul Thacker)

Up-side-down aerial shot (Photo courtesy of Paul Thacker)

Welcome Thax to our eLEGS Ambassador Team!

Power Up!

eLEGS Ambassador Tamara Mena walks off tether in eLEGS at Berkeley Bionics

Posted on July 13, 2011 by admin

On July 8, 2011 eLEGS Ambassador Tamara Mena walked off tether in eLEGS for the first time at Berkeley Bionics. Tamara has a T2 Complete spinal cord injury and has been progressing with walking untethered in eLEGS at the Berkeley Bionics facility. It is critical that we ensure the safety of our test pilots at all times. Clinical Director, Darrell Musick PT is assisting Tamara using the eLEGS Professional device in its therapeutic mode by pushing a button to help eLEGS take steps. Tamara’s next level of progress will be walking independently using the human machine interface with crutch sensors.

Read about Tamara in her profile HERE.

Tamara Mena 2011

What are our test pilots saying? Profile on Jerry McClain

Posted on May 5, 2011 by admin

Jerry McClain

"I knew things were going to be hard and frustrating, but I’ve always been a good problem solver, so I figured I was ready for any challenge."

Date of Birth:
August 10, 1980
Disability Type:
C-6 Incomplete ASIA C
Current Residence:
Pacifica, CA
Interests/Hobbies:
Anything outdoors, the ocean, surfing, fishing, traveling.

“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s if you get back up.”—Vince Lombardi

I grew up in Pacifica California, a small coastal town about ten miles south of San Francisco. After graduating from high school I started working at a construction company as a laborer and soon fell in love with the idea of earning money while working outdoors with my hands. When I was twenty-five my girlfriend and I decided to pack up and move to San Diego where I still continued my career in the construction business. In 2007 after almost ten years in my trade I accomplished one of my goals: getting my general contractor’s license and starting my own business. My life in San Diego was pretty much perfect, I was doing everything that I wanted to be doing and then on July 18, 2009 everything changed.

As with most spinal cord injuries, mine was a totally unexpected accident doing something that I have done a million times before. My girlfriend and I took a little weekend trip to visit with friends for a couple of days; little did I know this fun little trip would turn into a nightmare. Saturday night after a full day of walking around and having some fun, we decided to go back to the condo and go for a swim in the pool. I’ve always loved the water so naturally I grabbed a pair of shorts and ran out to the pool to be the first one in. I dove right on in without any hesitation as usual, and I hit my head on the bottom of the pool. I knew instantly what had happened but didn’t want to believe it. I fractured the sixth cervical vertebrae in my neck and it pinched my very fragile spinal cord. Luckily I didn’t knock myself out unconscious and was able to swim to the edge of the pool and yell for friends. My fun little weekend trip turned into six days in the ICU and five weeks in a rehabilitation facility.

My injury has completely changed my life. My life is no longer simple and easy, now I have to work hard just to keep my body healthy and feeling good. Since my injury I have been going to physical therapy three days a week at SCI-FIT in Pleasanton, CA where I work hard on trying to strengthen weak muscles and make a better connection between my nerves and my muscles. I’ve always been a very active person from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep. Just my work alone kept me very fit, and surfing everyday or hiking with my dog was just a daily routine that I miss very much. When I first got injured I was very depressed and hard on myself. I felt like if I couldn’t do anything that I loved to do, then I wondered what was the point of trying to do anything at all? After a few months of being sad and feeling sorry for myself, I realized that I was affecting everybody around me in a very negative way. So one day I decided to just live my life and be happy and figure out new different ways to do the things that I loved to do. I knew things were going to be hard and frustrating, but I’ve always been a good problem solver, so I figured I was ready for any challenge.

Jerry McClain steps out in eLEGS

At first I was skeptical about the whole eLEGS thing. It sounded to me like another very expensive piece of technology that most people dealing with a spinal cord injury would not be able to afford or even experience. When one of my physical therapists told me he was working with Berkeley Bionics and thought that I would be a good candidate to test it out, I made the decision to give it a try. Within the first two minutes of being up in eLEGS, I knew this was an awesome piece of equipment that lots of people would not only receive health benefits from but it could change people’s entire lives. After talking with the amazing engineers who created and built eLEGS I now understand that this is just the beginning and years from now being upright and walking may not even be an issue with some spinal cord injuries.

What are our eLEGS test pilots saying? Profile on Sarah Anderson

Posted on April 10, 2011 by admin

"I am a firm believer in never giving up on hope and for fighting for what you want in life." -- Sarah Anderson

Date of Birth:
November 6, 1980
Disability Type:
T10 ASIA C Spinal Cord Injury-Incomplete
Date of Injury:
June 30, 2003
Current Residence:
Pinole, California
Interests:
Traveling, being in the sun, the NFL, muscle cars, reading gossip magazines, spending time with my family & friends, hanging out at the lake, waterskiing, going to the theater, watching movies, playing old school video games, any equestrian related sport, going to museums, black & white photography, four wheeling, fishing, and anything that will make me laugh!

“I am literally, without a doubt, the most stubborn and feisty individual on this planet! It’s definitely one of my faults, but at the same time it’s what makes me the strong willed and ambitious person that I am. When people tell me that I can’t do something or that I should just give up, it’s my stubborn will and tenacity that push me to keep on going. I am a firm believer in never giving up on hope and for fighting for what you want in life. Like George Bernard Shaw once said, “The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.””

What was…
I grew up surrounded by horses and agriculture. My mom trained race horses, so I spent my entire youth at the stables. I learned from a young age the value and importance of hard work. My love for horses and agriculture continued on into my early adulthood, so after high school I attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where I majored in Animal Science. I had finally reached a point in life where I was truly pursuing my dreams, but then things suddenly changed.

After four amazing years at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo I decided to make a quick trip home for the weekend to visit my mom and to see the brand new baby foal that my mare had just given birth to. It was that warm summer weekend that my life was forever altered. On my way out to the ranch to see my horses I was struck by a drunk driver and was paralyzed from the waist down. The next thing that I remembered was waking up in ICU where the doctor promptly informed me that I was paralyzed and that not only would I never walk again, but that my personal independence that I had cherished so much was forever going to be a thing of the past…

eLEGS test pilot Sarah Anderson takes her first steps with the assistance of Darrell Musick PT and Adam Zoss, Senior Engineer

My doctor had no idea who he was dealing with when he met me! That good old stubbornness of mine kicked into full drive and every day, no matter how down or depressed I was feeling, I refused to let anyone tell me what I couldn’t do with my future. I worked my butt off every day in physical and occupational therapy. With that mindset and an immense amount of hard work I was able to regain my independence and make a new life for myself.

Taking my first steps in eLEGS

Words cannot even begin to describe what it was like for me when I took my very first steps in eLEGS. It was just so surreal that I had to literally pinch myself to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming. I was definitely amazed at what I was able to accomplish in one short session with eLEGS. I went from the girl that hadn’t walked in almost eight years, to the girl that was strutting her stuff in eLEGS with a big giant smile on her face. I am so grateful to the team at Berkeley Bionics for giving me the opportunity to achieve my dreams of walking again.

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