Health Watch: Giant Steps | ABC30 Fresno | abc30.com

kfsn

By ABC30

Monday, February 23, 2009

ATLANTA For 40-year-old Duane Morrow, playing a game of catch is more than one of life's simple pleasures. Some might call it a miracle. In 2004, Morrow broke his neck playing rugby and was paralyzed from the chest down.

"I was told that I had a 99 percent chance of never walking again," Morrow recalled to Ivanhoe; but from day one, he was an optimist. "I was excited that I had a one percent chance," he said.

Morrow has spent hundreds of exhausting hours in rehab at Atlanta's Shepherd Center, pushing himself and fighting for every step on the treadmill.

Morrow says the real breakthrough was a device he wears on his leg. It's a wireless electronic stimulator, or "e-stim."

Beth Pharo, a physical therapist at the Shepherd Center says electrodes in the wrap work with a sensor placed in Morrow's shoe to stimulate and strengthen his leg muscles. "This device provides electrical stimulation to stimulate the muscle to contract so that toes can pick up," Pharo explained.

Morrow still has some spasms in his legs and limited feeling in his limbs and body, but now he only needs a wheelchair for long distances.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time I'm walking with just one cane," he said.

Step by step, Morrow is getting stronger and he's just getting started.

"If you have the right attitude and work ethic, who knows what you can get back," he said.

Therapists at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta say the new electronic stimulation device doesn't work for all patients with paralysis, which is also being used for stroke victims. Many insurance companies don't currently cover the "e-stim" device, which costs about $6,000 per unit.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Shepherd Center
Jane Sanders, Public Relations
Atlanta, GA
(404) 350-7707
Jane_sanders@shepherd.org
Spinal Column Summer 2007.pdf

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

abc30 News Links:
Links to other news sections on our website.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Breaking News Alerts:
Click Here to Sign-Up for Breaking News E-Mail Alerts
Receive Breaking News alerts in your email inbox.

Click Here to Sign-Up for Text Message Alerts
Receive Breaking News alerts right on your cell phone.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------