ReWalk helps patients with spinal cord injuries

Fischer wears the motor-driven robotic ReWalk exoskeleton device over his clothes. He supports his weight using crutches and uses a wristwatch to control a computer in the device. The computer interprets his commands, the suit detects shifts in his balance and then moves his legs in a way similar to his natural gait.

Latorre said ReWalk patients have less risk of fractures and complications as well as other therapeutic benefits.

"Imagine for somebody who has been in a chair for years sometimes to be able to stand and walk—it's something that's just quite remarkable," Latorre said. "We're excited to be the first hospital in Central Texas and the second one in Texas that has this technology."

A student at Austin Community College, Fischer is studying recreational therapy so that he can help people move forward with their lives after accidents similar to his own. He also works as an adapted sports coordinator at the Town Lake YMCA, teaching children about disability awareness by letting them use wheelchairs to run obstacle courses or play sports.

Fischer said he moved to Austin after his accident and soon joined an exercise-based recovery program.

"The therapists would tell me, 'You're going to be able to do a lot more than you think.' And not that I didn't believe them, but I was kind of like, 'Easy for you to say.' And then I went to this basketball practice and I see guys that have worse injuries than I do, and they're unloading out of their full-size truck and getting their basketball [wheelchair] out of the back. Seeing it firsthand was a pretty big eye-opener."

ReWalk is not something Fischer wears passively, said Bob Rambusek, senior physical therapist at St. David's.

"It's actually giving him a workout and building up his endurance and his strength and his balance," he said.

Latorre said ReWalk can help patients with spinal cord injuries who are in wheelchairs because of partial or complete paralysis of their legs—as well as patients with multiple sclerosis or neurological conditions leading to paralysis—become more functionally independent and prevent complications. ReWalk, developed by Argo Medical Technologies, is approved by the FDA for clinical use, but Latorre hopes it will be approved for personal use as well.