MIDDLE RIVER, Md. — Zero G, not just new technology, but a lifeline initially designed to support veterans.
This groundbreaking system is forging a new path for individuals facing spinal cord injuries.
Individuals like Rick Arnold.
"I have MS," said Arnold. "I was diagnosed in 2007."
Arnold is rediscovering the power of movement and reclaiming a sense of normalcy and freedom.
"It allows them to move side to side, up and down. They can practice walking safely without the fear of falling" said Kristin Johnston, manager of therapy services at Kennedy Krieger Institute International Center for Spinal Cord Injury.
This system is just one piece of a larger puzzle at Kennedy Krieger where a holistic approach to rehabilitation is key.
"When someone experiences a spinal cord injury, there told everything they cannot do again and how they have to modify their life to fit their injury. What we like to do here is learn about what their goals are and to help them meet those goals so that they can participate in everything they want to again," said Johnston.
For Arnold, that meant sailing with his husband.
"I never in a million years thought that I would ever set foot on a sailboat, and I did that and it was through Krieger that I was about to do that," Arnold said.
But what really sets Kennedy Krieger apart is the community it fosters.
"You can look around the gym and you ca find somebody who's like you, and having that relationship with another person and having somebody who understands what you're going through is incredibly important and prevents isolation," Johnston said.
A space where people support one another.
Sharing experiences that help lessen the isolation often felt during recovery.
"We may have a five-year-old child in here at the same time that have a 40-year-old adult and that child and that parent may talk to that adult and learn about their job, and their career, and their relationships, and their family and they now have new goals and expectations for their child that they might not have had before," said Johnston.
And in this place of healing, every step forward is a testament to resilience and courage.
