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Robert Doyle is like so many American teenagers. A high school freshman in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, he is nuts for hockey and baseball. His favorite music is rap and hip hop. He loves math but reading? Not so much. He’s been known to lock his 12-year old twin sisters in the closet – but only because they deserved it. The only difference is, he does all of this from a wheelchair.

On April 3, 2004, Robert woke with leg muscle weakness; by noon he collapsed. After Phoenix Children’s diagnosed 3 spine AVMs, Robert was transferred to specialists at Barrows Institute in Phoenix the next day. During an embolization procedure to arrest the spinal cord pressure which appeared to be advancing to higher spine levels, Robert experienced a spinal stroke which required sealing his main artery at T8. After battling through the subsequent chemical meningitis, "brain drain", and pneumonia, he was able to travel to Gillette Children’s in St. Paul, Minneapolis for rehab on April 22. Five weeks later, he arrived home to his cheering neighborhood friends who had decked out the yard in Eden Prairie sports colors!

Maintaining Robert’s physical health was crucial to the family – not to mention that this talented athlete had a passion for sports that no injury could take away.  Living in Minnesota was a blessing: the state is the nation’s only one to sanction a comprehensive adaptive sports programs for disabled kids, with varsity sports in the fall, winter and spring. Eden Prairie High School belongs to a consortium of schools that make up the South Suburban Flyers, and they play other teams with roots in several schools each. Kids on the South Suburban Flyers’ varsity teams --- there are 19 kids per team -- can letter in soccer, hockey and baseball. Another boon for families is that the program provides transportation.

Robert plays defense on the hockey team, shortstop on the baseball team, and guard in basketball. Tireless, Robert also plays for the Minnesota Royals, an independent NWBA (National Wheelchair Basketball Association) varsity basketball team. So it is no small wonder that he was happy to come across the RT300-S cycle to incorporate into his training. Recovered quadriplegic Pat Rummerfield and Dr. John McDonald at Baltimore’s Kennedy Krieger Institute introduced him to the Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) technology. Today Robert’s regimen includes three weekly workouts for about an hour each on the RT300 cycle.

Robert reports that “mentally, it makes me feel good about myself, moving a bike using my legs, considering that’s not normal routine for me. It makes me feel good that I can do it by myself. And I can see how I’m gradually getting better.” Robert is seeing significantly more muscle mass in his legs, and his quads are contracting by themselves. What’s more, his right leg is now able to walk unassisted in the pool treadmill.

“The RT300 gives me encouragement. Some days, I want to quit this. I tell myself, ‘I’m not seeing improvement. Let’s not do this anymore. It’s worthless.’  But another part of me says let’s move on and see where we can go.”

RTI collects the data from his workouts through the Internet and  sends Robert feedback. “Lately I’ve been able to pedal and drive the stim down.  We are looking to get feedback for that,” he shares.

Robert says that FES cycling has improved his cardiovascular fitness for sports, and strengthened his legs. For his upper body, Robert goes to therapy at Accua Advanced Fitness Training and does weights, pushups, sit ups and swims. He also walks on a treadmill in a hydroworks pool.

What does the future hold for this hazel-eyed, curly-haired, grinning teenager? “College, definitely. My dad’s business background in lending and commercial banking is a huge part of what I’d like to learn. And when I get up out of the chair, sports will be my number one thing.”

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