Level of Injury: T8
ASIA: A
Cause: ATV accident
Age at Onset: 21
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Update from Matt, November 2011
On April 23, 2006, my life was forever changed. Before this date, I was an avid adventurer with a love of sports and all things outdoors. A college student, an athlete, I lived each day as if there was always a tomorrow. With little care in the world, I truly thought I was invincible.
On that cool spring night, when I rolled my four-wheeler, I learned a very valuable lesson – invincibility is not always a reality. My injury was classified as a compression fracture, meaning that my spine had been shattered by the trauma, and I was told I would never walk again.
I never knew that one sentence could change the rest of my life. From that moment on, I work tirelessly each and every day to get back on my feet. I am going to beat this. I am going to defy the impossible. However, nothing would have been possible without my family and friends. When I was at my worst, my family and friends were at their best. I owe everything to them for believing in me.
Learning about FES
My Mom was the first person to tell me about FES and RT300 from her Internet searches to find anything that would help me work my body. I got my first RT300 ride a year after I was injured, at the Carlsbad Project Walk. At that stage, despite my best efforts, I had not achieved any recovery and my leg muscles had atrophied. I was impressed with the active therapy and realized the potential it offered me. I wanted to work with RT300 as much as I could and that meant getting one for home.
Insurance wasn’t easy to get, so our local community helped the family raise the funds to purchase RT300. The insurance money came through six months later after assistance from the Restorative Therapies reimbursement specialists.
In 2008 I moved to Baltimore to work with the Kennedy Krieger Institute, to complement the work I was doing at home on my RT300. With KKI’s help I developed a personalized workout program that has helped me regain some lost function. Progress has been slow and hard work, but over time I was initially able to move a toe, then raise a leg and more recently stand. With the aid of ankle braces and a walking frame I was able to take a few paces to receive my graduation diploma from the University of Maryland.
I am a huge believer in the value of FES, it is vital to enable people with SCI to exercise paralyzed muscles. There is no other way. Muscle contractions are the keys to maximizing your physical potential. FES is a powerful enabler, but the individual has to be prepared to put in the effort over time to get the benefits.
Joining Restorative Therapies
Ever since my accident, I have relayed the message of my life to others through public speaking engagements. I hope that the challenges that I have had to overcome will make a positive impact on the lives of others. I’ve had the opportunity to speak to numerous groups of individuals. My message to these people is that we all have challenges and impossibilities in our lives that seem too difficult to overcome.
In August 2011 I was successful with an application to join Restorative Therapies working with the clinical support team. I can now combine my two passions, FES therapy to maximize my personal recovery and my commitment to make a positive impact on other peoples lives, with my job! My job allows me lots of opportunities to work with clinics and other people meeting the challenges of having a SCI.
For more information on how I am doing, please read my blog >>