31-year-old Laquan Taylor was told he would never walk again. But with the help of an exoskeleton suit donated by SoldierStrong, he is getting his sense of independence back. <\/p>\n
Most of us take it for granted, but when a paralyzed veteran stood up and walked today, it was like a miracle had changed his world. <\/p>\n
Laquan Taylor was shot numerous times by a carjacker.<\/p>\n
“I was in a vegetative state. I was told I would never walk again,” said the 31-year-old Navy veteran.<\/p>\n
But he’s proving them wrong with the use of new technology: An exoskeleton suit.
\n“It allows me to stand. It gives me the sense of confidence again without falling or having issues,” he explained.<\/p>\n
With some help from his physical therapist, Taylor stood and walked across a room at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa.<\/p>\n
The Ekso GT exoskeleton was donated to the hospital by SoldierStrong, a group that had already donated 16 exoskeletons across the country at a cost of more than $100,000 each. <\/p>\n
“I’ve seen this a hundred times now and every time is special. You see the smile on their face, their eyes light up,” said Chris Meek, co-founder of SoldierStrong.
\nDr. Kevin White, a spinal cord injury specialist, says he expects the devices will become cheaper. <\/p>\n
“This is going to be commonplace in a short period of time. As years go by this technology gets better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the exoskeleton donated today can help people with full or partial paralysis. It’s FDA approved for both spinal cord injuries and stroke. <\/p>\n
LaQuan says the exoskeleton has accelerated his therapy and improved his outlook. “It gives you your sense of independence back.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
SoldierStrong has partnered with some of America\u2019s most advanced medical technology companies to make their devices accessible to returning veterans. The SoldierStrong SoldierSuit is comprised of several state-of-the-art rehabilitation and powered prosthetic technologies that address a variety of combat and non-combat related disabilities. Read more about them here:<\/p>\n
Soldier Strong Link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fox News Link 31-year-old Laquan Taylor was told he would never walk again. But with the help of an exoskeleton suit donated by SoldierStrong, he is getting his sense of independence back. Most of us take it for granted, but when a paralyzed veteran stood up and walked today, it was like a miracle had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-veterans-issues"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ozh1-l7N","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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