Never Lost Hope: Blind and paralyzed man walks again

Mark Pollock kept his body as healthy as possible while waiting for technology to advance

Mark Pollock has been blind since 1998 and was paralyzed after a tragic fall. Yet, with the help of advanced technology, he is learning to walk again.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Born with poor eyesight and finally going blind in 1998, Matt Pollock was dealt a bad hand in life but when he fell from a second-story window in 2010, his injuries were severe. 

He had two broken bones pierce and cut his spinal cord, paralyzing him from the waist down. He was told by his doctor that return of any function or sensation on the area was impossible but the news did not dishearten him. 

Pollock learned how to live meaningfully, strapped to his wheelchair, and had managed to "keep the paralyzed bits in good enough shape [to] be ready for any innovation that came down the track," according to The Los Angeles Times.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has been conducting experiments by infusing electrical stimulation therapy to robotic exoskeletons to help spinal cord-related injuries and have reached the point where paralyzed patients can learn to walk again. 

Pollock became the team's first subject in 2014. 

Ekso Bionics is a battery-operated bionic suit that allows the wearer to control their own legs following a noninvasive procedure promoting spinal stimulation.

Senior researcher and UCLA distinguished professor V.  Reggie Edgerton and his team put electrical patches on the skin over Pollock's spinal cord, inducing five hours of electrical stimulation a week. Then the robotic exoskeleton was strapped onto him.

Following therapy, Pollock reportedly gained enough voluntary control to assist in the exoskeleton's movement.

"In the last few weeks of the trial, my heart rate hit 138 beats per minute. This is an aerobic training zone, a rate I haven't even come close to since being paralyzed while walking in the robot alone, without these interventions. That was a very exciting, emotional moment for me, having spent my whole adult life before breaking my back as an athlete," expressed Pollock.

According to The LA Times, he began to feel some sensations he missed since 2010 and has been walking and standing actively again. "It felt, like, right," Pollock said.

Edgerton explained "We think the future in robotics and rehabilitation is that the device will assist but will not completely take over, so the person has to regain some voluntary movement and to assist the device in making voluntary movements. The robot will do less and less and the subject will do more and more."

The technology to help patients with spinal cord injuries is advancing at a wonderfully fast rate but Edgerton believes it will take a few more years before this technology will become widely available.

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