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Michael Sullivan may one day honor the Surgeon General’s recommendation to take 10,000 daily steps, but on April 12, nothing mattered more to the 46-year-old than confidently executing 276 paces at Center City’s Good Shepherd Penn Partners.
With conviction and curiosity, he capped four emotional days of regaining the ability to walk, a gift that a 1994 diving accident robbed him of by rendering him a quadriplegic. The fortunate footsteps occurred courtesy of a bionic exoskeleton that will work to ensure that Sullivan’s penchant for activity will never grow sedentary.
One of six patients with lower-extremity weakness or paralysis to use the four-year-old facility’s battery-powered aid last week, the resident of the 300 block of Durfor Street earned the opportunity through his five-year involvement with Philadelphia Adaptive Rowing, whom Penn Partners contacted last month. A rapid response to an e-mail initiated his selection, and he spent the pre-demonstration time reflecting on his fate.
“I have had bouts with fear,” the graduate of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, 2329 S. Third St., and St. John Neumann High School, formerly 2600 Moore St., said of his quest to ambulate. “I had thought something would keep me from these moments.”
Sullivan has never lacked motivation and argued the timing of his Jersey Shore episode inflamed his will even more. Following an Aug. 21, ’94 Jet Ski ride, he dove into the water to rinse off, with his head striking submerged wood. Rehabilitation ensued, with much of his recovery focusing on how to prepare for fatherhood, as he suffered misfortune when his partner Donna, whom he wed in 2000, was one month pregnant with their son Michael.
“My top concern was holding him,” Sullivan said of his offspring, a junior at Center City’s Roman Catholic High School. “Eventually all went well and Michael would treat my wheelchair as just another toy.”
Their relationship has proven so mutually rewarding that Sullivan, having regained arm mobility, last year took up tennis at his child’s urging. His participation has maintained his strength and heightened his resolve, as he claimed two wins at last month’s NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour’s Pensacola Open in Florida. Enhancing his upper extremity stamina helped to build his candidacy for Ekso, a 45-pound robot that Ekso Bionics, a seven-year-old California-based company introduced two years ago as eLEGS, or Exoskeleton Lower Extremity Gait System. He met height and weight requirements, displayed proficient sitting balance and possessed a suitable range of motion in his leg joints.
Ekso Bionics renamed eLEGS “Ekso” last year, the same time it began interactions with rehabilitation clinics to test its creation, according to physical therapist clinical manager Melissa Pullia. The entity contacted Allentown’s Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, making it the nation’s third facility to receive an exoskeleton. As Penn Partners is a joint venture of the network and Penn Medicine, it became the sixth site last month.
“It was important for us to make this technology available quickly for our patients,” Executive Director Lisa Marsilio said of operationalizing the project, including patient selection, in less than three weeks.
Sullivan, who had loved jogging five miles daily, eagerly accepted Marsilio’s offer to regain even more belief. All users have the Ekso strapped over their clothing with Velcro and clips, with a physical therapist operating it through a controller. Though it does not grant a wearer total autonomy, it can promote increased feelings of independence, and the Whitman resident yearned for his boost as his helpers fastened the gadget and reviewed a procedural checklist.
“Wheelchair or not, you still have to live life to the fullest,” he said.
A few deep breaths and gulps came from Sullivan before rising, but he became a paragon of precision. Swaying tested his ability to shift his weight, with his right foot soon after thrusting forward to commence his crusade across the floor. Pullia, guiding him and his assistants, noted after his treks that 70 patients had undergone screenings, with 63 passing and taking as few as 81 and as many as 638 first-session steps. Sullivan started his return to stability April 9 and managed 130 strides, with 125 and 300 over the next two days.
Striving for quality over quantity, he completed his initial walk with sturdy concentration, balancing downward glances and straight-ahead stares. A well-deserved exhalation followed the first foray, with Sullivan excited for more.
“This is cutting-edge technology,” he said to onlookers. “I love that it let me be eye to eye with people again.”
Sullivan has often shown nimble footwork, as he has enjoyed a four-decade relationship with the Mummers Fancy Brigade Association, lending his talent to the Jokers New Years Brigade, 1602 S. Second St. He also has shown an acumen for enterprise, serving as vice president for Collingswood, N.J.’s Standard Office Solutions. Last week, however, his business was producing a steady gait.
Few directional variations occurred in his subsequent attempts, as Pullia and the others complimented his willingness to make the session a 60-minute lesson in realizing, to alter a popular Bible verse, that one’s spirit and flesh can be strong. His face gave away few hints at his handling of the pressure of again being erect, though he entertained more than thoughts of letting his left foot follow his right and keeping his arms steadily on his walker.
“I was thinking ‘This is fantastic,’” he said.
Breaks staved off fatigue and left Sullivan meditative and beholden.
“I’m trying to but I can’t find words to explain what I’m feeling,” he said before his final three journeys. “I’m in pain but it’s good pain. I feel so fortunate to be among the recipients of such innovative thinking.”
The exoskeleton can assist those between 5-foot-2 and 6-foot-4 and who weigh no more than 220 pounds. It allows wearers to walk in a straight line, stand for extended periods and from a sitting position and sit from a standing position through a battery providing more than six hours of power. According to exoskeleton-suit.com, Ekso Bionics may market the robot to individuals next year.
“We are seeking those who would want the therapy,” Joan Levicoff, Penn Partners site manager for outpatient rehabilitation, said.
“Today felt even better,” Sullivan added Friday. “I am not as sore and am eager for what’s to come.”
He noted Penn Partners is finalizing his rehabilitation schedule, and he hopes for an upright future. Although he began the week literally looking up at everyone, he ended it by figuratively having everyone looking up to him.
“The goal is to walk again,” Sullivan said. “I would love to be able to jog at least one mile again.”
For more information, visit phillyrehab.com.
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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