A paraplegic ex-jockey who was given a special skeleton suit to help him walk again “can’t walk anymore” after the equipment stopped working.
Michael Straight was left paralysed from the waist down when he suffered head and spinal injuries at Arlington Park, Chicago in 2009.
Five years later he was given the chance to walk again when he was fitted with an $100,000 exoskeleton paid for from funds raised by The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation. The foundation also paid for the insurance which covered the cost of repairs for several years.
But, according to Straight, the suit has now malfunctioned and he has been unable to get the company which supplied the suit to fix it. He now only has the use of a machine which helps him stand up but not move around.
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He highlighted his predicament on his Facebook page, in which he said: “Bad news....after 371,091 steps my exoskeleton is being retired after 10 years of unbelievable physical therapy!!
“The reason it stopped is because of a battery in the watch I wear to operate the machine.
“I called thinking it was no big deal, yet I was told they stopped working on any machine that was 5 years or older.
“I find it very hard to believe after paying nearly $100,000 for the machine and training that a $20 (£15) battery for the watch is the reason I can't walk anymore?”
Straight gave further details of the situation to The Paulick Report. “I get frustrated just thinking about it,” he said. “It’s not fair to people like me, as hard as a paraplegic’s life is, and they’re making it harder.
“My body is normally always very tight, and I have muscle spasms all the time, like my legs will bounce up and down.
“When I use the exoskeleton once a week, it’s all gone. In the long run, I’ve been told it also helps bone density so much. Of course, seeing one foot going in front of the other, I don’t think there’s too much better than that for a paraplegic.”
He continued: “Hopefully we can work something out. I just don’t understand how they can say that after five years, a $100,000 machine is not worth anything. That’s very hard to believe.”
The Paulick Report said the company which produces the exoskeleteon, Lifeward, had not responded to requests for comment.
