Posted on Aug 9, 2019
Veteran walks tall in his exoskeleton - VAntage Point
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Responses: 7
Excellent news. Israel developed something like this several years ago; I was hoping to see it here.
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Thank you, my friend Sgt (Join to see) for letting us know that Marine Corps Veteran, Tim Conner was issued his own robotic exoskeleton, made by ReWalk. After 4 months of training, he took a test model home for four months as a trial run. After months of waiting his use-at-home robotic exoskeleton arrived and he is very thankful.
Image: Tim Conner and the team that helped him walk again. From left, Chief of Staff Dr. Colleen Jakey, Cassandra Hogan, Kathryn Fitzgerald, Brittany Durant, and Spinal Cord Injury Service Chief Dr. Kevin White.jpg
"It took Marine Corps Veteran, Tim Conner, more than a year of training and waiting, but it paid off. He was finally able to take home his new (exoskeleton) legs.
Conner has used a wheelchair since 2010. An accident left him with a spinal cord injury, and he is the first Veteran at Tampa Bay VA Medical Center to be issued an exoskeleton for home use. The robotic exoskeleton, made by ReWalk, provides powered hip and knee motion that lets Conner stand upright and walk.
Before being issued his own exoskeleton, Conner underwent four months of training, then took a test model home for four months as a trial run. He then had to wait several more months for delivery. He was so excited about getting it that he mistakenly arrived a week early to pick it up.
“They said, “You’re here early, it’s the thirtieth,’” Conner said with a laugh. “I was like, that’s not today. I looked at my phone and said, ‘Oh my God, I’m excited, what can I say.’”
For Conner, the most significant advantage of the exoskeleton is being able to stand and walk again. Which, in turn, motivates him to stay healthy.
“I’m not 3-and-a-half, 4 feet tall anymore. I’m back to 5-8,” Conner said. “Not only can I stand up and look eye-to-eye to everybody. I’m not always kinking my neck looking up at life. It’s been able to allow me to stay motivated, to stay healthy, because you have to be healthy to even do the study for this program. That is going to keep me motivated to stay healthy and live longer than what could be expected for the average person in my situation.”
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Thomas Tennant MAJ Ken LandgrenCapt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT 1stSgt Eugene Harless SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSLSFC William FarrellSSG Leo Bell SSgt (Join to see) Sgt Joe LaBranche PO3 Steven Sherrill PO1 John Miller Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM SPC Margaret Higgins SFC Jack Champion Cynthia Croft
Image: Tim Conner and the team that helped him walk again. From left, Chief of Staff Dr. Colleen Jakey, Cassandra Hogan, Kathryn Fitzgerald, Brittany Durant, and Spinal Cord Injury Service Chief Dr. Kevin White.jpg
"It took Marine Corps Veteran, Tim Conner, more than a year of training and waiting, but it paid off. He was finally able to take home his new (exoskeleton) legs.
Conner has used a wheelchair since 2010. An accident left him with a spinal cord injury, and he is the first Veteran at Tampa Bay VA Medical Center to be issued an exoskeleton for home use. The robotic exoskeleton, made by ReWalk, provides powered hip and knee motion that lets Conner stand upright and walk.
Before being issued his own exoskeleton, Conner underwent four months of training, then took a test model home for four months as a trial run. He then had to wait several more months for delivery. He was so excited about getting it that he mistakenly arrived a week early to pick it up.
“They said, “You’re here early, it’s the thirtieth,’” Conner said with a laugh. “I was like, that’s not today. I looked at my phone and said, ‘Oh my God, I’m excited, what can I say.’”
For Conner, the most significant advantage of the exoskeleton is being able to stand and walk again. Which, in turn, motivates him to stay healthy.
“I’m not 3-and-a-half, 4 feet tall anymore. I’m back to 5-8,” Conner said. “Not only can I stand up and look eye-to-eye to everybody. I’m not always kinking my neck looking up at life. It’s been able to allow me to stay motivated, to stay healthy, because you have to be healthy to even do the study for this program. That is going to keep me motivated to stay healthy and live longer than what could be expected for the average person in my situation.”
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Thomas Tennant MAJ Ken LandgrenCapt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT 1stSgt Eugene Harless SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSLSFC William FarrellSSG Leo Bell SSgt (Join to see) Sgt Joe LaBranche PO3 Steven Sherrill PO1 John Miller Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM SPC Margaret Higgins SFC Jack Champion Cynthia Croft
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LTC Stephen F.
FYI 1LT Sandy Annala CPT (Join to see) LTC Paul Labrador CPT Barbara Smith MSgt Ronald Stacy BG (Join to see) SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG Leo Bell Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4"SSgt Robert Marx TSgt Joe C. SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT Robert George
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LTC Stephen F.
FYI Sgt Kelli Mays SFC (Join to see) Sgt Douglas Berger MSgt Mike Brown; MBTI-CP; MA, Ph.D. CPL Patrick Brewbaker Cpl David Beck Col Joel Anderson LCpl Emanuel W. LCpl Steve Wininger Cpl Joshua CaldwellMaj Lawrence Celli Sgt Justin DavisCrowe GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad SPC Americo Garcia Sgt (Join to see) Cpl (Join to see) LtCol Dave Jonas Sgt Jay JonesCWO3 (Join to see) Cpl Kelly Kendall
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LTC Stephen F.
FYI Capt Tom Brown SSgt Gary Andrews Cpl Gabriel F. Sgt David G Duchesneau Cpl (Join to see) Sgt Joe LaBranche Sgt (Join to see) Cpl (Join to see) LCpl (Join to see) Cpl Craig Marton SSgt Robert Marx GySgt Bryan A. McGown "Gunny" MGySgt Michael P. McNeal, MBA Cpl Casey Meyer Sgt James Morse LCpl Thomas Osmon SSgt Terry P. GySgt H.E. (Trey) Salmon III
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Sgt (Join to see)
Good morning LTC Stephen F. and thank you for such a great response, with the personal side of what this new exoskeleton means to Marine Corps Veteran, Tim Connor... Your response may looked at by others with the same or similar disability and give them hope for a more normal life! Awesome!
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