By Meredith Ganzman
After years of being paralyzed, Jered Chinnock is finally able to walk again. The Wisconsin man was paralyzed in a snowmobile accident when he was 26-years-old.
But five years of intense rehab and having an electrical stimulator device implanted in his lower spine has changed his life.
"Like my sitting balance and stuff has gotten a lot better…. My standing’s gotten a lot better. I can stand unassisted, I would say, with the walker," Chinnock says.
He has become the first person with his condition to take steps independently. Recently he was able to walk just over the length of a football field. He took breaks and needed a walker for balance to make it the 111-yards.
"Now we know what’s possible. We know we can replicate previous results. We can enable someone with a complete spinal injury to move their limbs again," says Kristin Zhao, Ph.D., co-principal investigator and director of Mayo Clinic’s Assistive and Restorative Technology Laboratory.
The accomplishment is one more step towards his ultimate goal- regaining full independence.