Paraplegic Moves Legs Voluntarily for First Time
From: ABC News - 05/19/2011
By: Lara Salahi

Many who know hometown baseball star Rob Summers call him Superman. Since age
six, Summers, now 25, was a champion pitcher in his hometown of Portland,
Ore. In 2006, after his team at Oregon State University won the College World
Series, Rob dreamed of going into the major league. 

But he never knew that his nickname would ring true until July 2006, when he
was struck in a hit-and-run accident and became paralyzed below the neck. 

In December 2009, doctors implanted an electric nerve stimulator in Summers'
spine, below the area that was damaged. When the stimulator is turned on, a
panel of 16 electrodes reactivates the nerves in Summers' spinal cord,
helping him move his muscles on his own. 

Read the entire article and view a vide (2:08) at:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/paralyzed-man-rob-summers-moves-legs-voluntarily-implanted/story?id=13641521

Related:
Miracle Walk (with video 4:50)
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/graduation-miracle-walk-13606883

Potentially Big Medical News on Paralysis (with video 5:03)
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7388727

A Chance to Walk Again (with video 5:35)
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8097992

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Shocking the spine back to life
From: Science Illustrated - Nov/Dec-2012 - page 44

Despite suffering a severe spinal fracture that left him paralyzed below the
neck, Rob Summers can stand on his own two feet. The secret is a
revolutionary electrical therapy that stimulates his legs, even without input
from his brain. 

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