ORLANDO, Fla. – At Orlando Health’s Advanced Rehabilitation Institute, what’s known as “high-intensity gait training” is giving people new hope and independence after severely disabling injuries.
In March, fun-loving grandfather, Jeff Irwin was severely injured on the playground while attempting to flip off a swing set. A harsh landing on his neck, landed him in the hospital, unable to move his body.
“I just knew that when I was on the ground, just to sit there and let the paramedics take care of me and God would watch over me and get me where I needed to be,” he said.
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Orlando Health surgeons stabilized his spine with titanium screws and a plate. But he would need a special type of physical therapy called high intensity gait training to get back on his feet.
“To have it happen on a Grandparent’s Day at the school and think, okay, will I ever get to hold them again? But I can.”
Physical therapist Emily Slater helped Irwin learn to walk again.
“What we’re really looking at is he able to advance his own legs? Is he able to hold his own balance? And then what can I make a little bit harder to make his body work harder,” Slater said.
She said every patient’s therapy plan is customized for their needs, even high intensity gait training routines vary.
“If someone can’t move at all, we can put them in the Ekso skelton and the Ekso can actually facilitate walking for them. And then, we lastly also have a kind of independent harness. It’s not hooked up into a ceiling, but we can take it anywhere in the hospital,” she explained.
After about four weeks, Irwin walked out without any assistance.
Slater credits not only the techniques, but his will power, week after week.
“Jeff came in with a positive attitude every single day,” she said.
For Irwin, the motivation was showing his grandkids “pappy is back!”
“I get to go to their house and I can sit out there. They can run up to me, they can play. I can’t lift them yet, but that’s my next goal,” he said.
Irwin still has occupational therapy to help with mobility and strength in his hands.
Therapists say while every case is different, this type of training allows better results past the focus of just getting a patient to a point of functioning safely, but also helping them create lasting progress and get much better outcomes after debilitating injuries.
Learn more about the program here: Spinal Cord Injury Program