Every day there are new advances in technologies that treat spinal cord injuries and give those living with paralysis a chance at getting on their feet again, even for shortest of moments.

For Keith Fern, it is a dream come true.  After seven years of being paralyzed, Fern now uses the Bioness L300 to augment his spinal cord injury and walk, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Paraplegic man walks on his own thanks to the Bioness L300.

Keith Fern, 49, can walk again using the Bioness L300 after a car accident paralyzed him in 2003. (Source: The Sun Sentinel)

In August of 2003, 49-year-old Fern flipped his Land Cruiser and come close to severing his spinal cord.  Instead, the car accident only partially severed his C5 vertebrae, and doctors initially diagnosed his spinal cord injury as quadriplegia.  Fern had to stay in bed for four months at New York’s Mount Sinai Medical Center before getting transferred to rehab facility in Miami.

Eventually, through home occupational and physical therapy, Fern’s condition improved and was re-diagnosed with paraplegia because he could feel his arms and legs again.  He started walking with the assistance of weights and in 2008 — nearly 5 years after the accident — a therapist suggested he try the Bioness (NESS) L300.

Using functional electrical stimulation to send nerve signals to Fern’s left foot, the Bioness L300 has allowed Fern to walk again.  The device is designed to counteract what’s known as “foot drop”, by jump starting nerves much like jumper cables start a car battery.  Fern wears a knee brace and let’s the L300 stimulate his right foot with electricity running through his calf, pushing his right leg forward while he braces himself on his left leg.

“I can stand up and walk around, but I can only do it at one mile an hour and not for very long.  Up and down the block, to the movie theater, up the street to my bank.  But harder things like dressing and showering I do sitting down,” said Fern.

After seven long years of spinal cord injury treatments, grueling physical therapy, and exercises, once very difficult acts have become routine again.  Tying his shoes, getting dishes from the kitchen and dressing himself are all things Fern can do on his own thanks to the L300.

But he’s not keeping his success to himself.  Fern is using his story of hope and recovery to help inspire others.  He’s already set up an auction of sports memorabilia where all the proceeds will go towards finding a cure for paralysis with the help of the nonprofit research center Fern was treated at: The Miami Project.

Contact our bilingual offices as soon as possible following a spinal cord injury at 1-800-655-6585 or please click here for a free consultation with an experienced San Diego spinal cord injury lawyer.

About Michael Pines

Michael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.