PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Rob Summers was a sophomore at Oregon State University, working on a business major and playing baseball, when a hit-and-run accident on a Portland street left him unable to use his legs.
This week he made international headlines as the first such spinal injury patient to stand and regain some purposeful movement with the help of an electrical stimulator.
He tells the Oregonian he hopes his story will motivate others with spinal cord injuries.
It remains to be seen whether the treatment can meaningfully improve functioning in daily life, or even whether the results in a single patient can be repeated in others. But experts say the results are significant because they show that electrical stimulation can help the brain work around spinal damage to control movement.
