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In an alternate universe, Rob Summers would’ve been a Major League baseball player. After turning down the MLB draft in high school and going to college, he helped Oregon State University win the College World Series. By 2006, he was ready to move onto the Major Leagues, but a hit and run accident changed everything in an instant, paralyzing him from the chest down.
Baseball was no longer in the cards, but Rob wasn’t about to accept his injury as permanent, even if he would never again compete in baseball. He went on to be the first person to receive a spinal cord electrical stimulation implant. Read on for his story.
Why He’s Fearless
After Rob’s injury, a random hit-and-run while he was standing by his vehicle, he was determined to prove his doctors wrong. While we all work hard in rehab, Rob wasn’t you average SCI patient.
His determination to get better, combined with his youth and still-healthy body, made him the perfect candidate for a number of spinal cord injury research studies. And by 2009, Rob had decided to undergo a 16 electrode implant surgery, in which various electrodes would stimulate parts of his lower spinal cord, bypassing the need for signals from the brain and helping him stand up with the help of a walker.
The amazing procedure was done by UCLA neuroscientist Reggie Edgerton, who’s has been studying the effects of electrical impulses on the spinal cord since the 1990s, and the theory goes – with some electrical stimulation assistance, the spinal cord can figure out signals just as well as the brain can, thereby bypassing the injury site.
Within three days, Rob Summers was able to stand up by himself. He still is unable to walk, but he can stand and has received sensation return in the way of his bowel and bladder, his lower extremities and sexual function. And what’s really cool is that the return of sensation was not something they expected. They expected voluntary movement control only.
What’s Next?
Rob also decided to partner with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and he’s been heavily active in various aspects of the organization along with his girlfriend Julie Grauert, a news personality he met while doing media for the Reeve Foundation. He also helps coach new peer mentors for the them, and he’s worked as a motivational speaker. Rob and Julie also both share a passion for golden retrievers.
Rob’s exuberance to work as hard as possible for function return has been inspiring, and it has helped science. He may not be fully walking, but he can stand, and what he did for the beginnings of epidural stimulation cannot be understated.
– Read more about Reggie Edgerton’s study from Popular Mechanics
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