Diagnosis: SCI
Level of Injury: T6
ASIA: B
Cause: Skiing accident
Age at Onset: 6

Dalit Menachem was with her baby in a hotel room, packing suitcases on the last day of a weeklong ski trip in West Virginia. Her husband had taken their two older kids for a final run on the slopes. He and the oldest child came back. But their six-year-old son, Nadav, didn’t.

Nadav fell on that final run and hit his head on a rock. His skull was cracked, although there was no brain damage. But there were broken bones in his spine and blood clots damaged the cord and plunged the Menachem family into a foreign world of helicopters, hospitals and rehabilitation. 

The Menachems are Israeli, temporarily in the U.S. as David Menachem, an officer in the Israeli defense forces, serves abroad for two years. Those two years have stretched into three due to Nadav’s accident, although the family is heading back to Israel in July.

“Israel is still home. Our friends and family are there—it’s our country. But we enjoy it here in the US very much. If not for the accident it would be perfect.”

On the day of that accident, Nadav was air-lifted to a hospital where he underwent an unsuccessful operation. A few days later, he was again transported by helicopter, this time to Johns Hopkins in Maryland where he endured another operation. Then he spent eight weeks at Kennedy Krieger Institute as an inpatient and four weeks as an outpatient. And that was just the beginning of the work Nadav, now eight, has done.

“It took Nadav time to understand what is going on,” says Dalit. “We explained to him that his legs can’t hear his brain: the connection isn’t good. We told him that he needs to work and exercise and do his best. And be patient. He must be patient.”

Nadav listened to his parents. He’s a determined little boy—and more active than most able-bodied kids. “He has friends. He plays with them, he invites them over, he goes to their houses. He rides horses, he swims, he plays. He even flew an airplane!”

The Menachems have taught their son that his accident wasn’t the end—it’s only the beginning. “We teach him that he can do everything … but maybe in a different way. He needs to find his own way to do anything he wants. But of course things are hard for him. Obviously he would like to be like everyone else but ... He knows. He realizes.”

He realizes he has to work harder than other kids his age, but he’s also learned that hard work pays off. One activity Nadav pours his energy is into his workouts on the FES cycles. Nadav has both the RT300 and RT50s at home in York Town, Virginia. The technology provides therapy not just his legs but his back and abs—vital for the swimming and horseback riding he loves.

The benefits are obvious. His mother gushes, “Nadav’s legs look excellent! He has big strong muscles. Nadav has football player legs, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful muscles.”

“He sits up straight,” she continues. “He holds himself beautifully. He looks healthy, he feels strong and positive. Because it’s good to exercise for your feelings too, not just your body. Therapy puts Nadav in a good mood.”

The Menachem’s have made the RT300 part of Nadav’s everyday routine: he cycles five days a week for an hour at a time. “We don’t have to force him to do it. He accepts that it’s one of the things he has to do. It’s not so bad: he can ride the bike and play the Wii. Or play on the computer. That’s what boys do anyway. But of course, if he says he doesn’t feel like it, we let him have a day off. We don’t want him to feel like it’s a punishment. But that’s only happened twice in a year and a half. There’s usually no discussion about it. He knows it’s good for him.”

Since starting on the RT300, Nadav’s circulation has improved. His mother explains that “his muscles don’t feel cold. They seem to be alive, if you know what I mean.”

They’re so alive, in fact, that Nadav is walking with crutches, with a little help from his mom. His balance improves noticeably each time his doctors do a reassessment. “We started with nothing: he could only do three steps. And then we moved to the walker. And now we’re working with the crutches.”

The activity also helps with his muscle spasms and flexibility. On days he rides (which is most days of the week), Nadav experiences almost no spasms. His stiffness is reduced and he enjoys full range of motion.

Nadav isn’t the only one who enjoys the RT300. His mother also marvels at the technology. “It’s amazing that everything is done through the Internet. We can track his workouts and see how much muscle he’s used and if we see it go down, we call RTI and they adjust it online. We can even be in Israel and keep in touch.”

She’s also impressed with amount of time saved by exercising muscle groups simultaneously—time she can then enjoy with her son off the bike. “It’s amazing that you can work on most of muscles: the back, the abs, the quads, the glutes—all together in one hour. I think of what people had to do before. They had to exercise so much to work each muscle and it took them so long!”

Not that the Menachems aren’t patient. They just don’t want to waste any time. “We are waiting for science to come up with a cure. But we want Nadav to be in good shape when science comes up with something.”

When there is a cure, Nadav will be ready. But even if it takes awhile, Dalit says Nadav’s “condition doesn’t affect his dreams. He never says ‘I can’t do it because I’m in a wheelchair.’ He NEVER says that.”

Dalit Menachem (mother of Nadav)