TAMPA, Fla. — Veterans and service members from all over the country come to the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa if they have spinal cord injuries.
The hospital has an exoskeleton-assisted ambulation program in its Robotics & Advanced Technology Center.
“Ever since I was younger, I knew I wanted to join the military,” said Sean Stutson, a firefighter in the Air Force.
He continued, “Peterson Space Force Base was my first and last base that I went to, and I spent about two years there."
Stutson described what happened when he was at the base in Colorado in August of 2023.
“There is where I had an accident. I was hiking and fell off a cliff, about a 50-foot fall. Ended up getting a spinal cord injury and breaking a few bones,” said Stutson.
After treatment in Colorado, Stutson came to James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital for rehabilitation.
“Exoskeletons are machines or powered equipment that allows patients to be able to walk. It offloads all the weight for them,” said Dr. Kevin White, Chief of Spinal Cord Injuries at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital.
“Why is something like this so crucial for a veteran?” asked ABC Action News anchor Lauren St. Germain.
“If you ask a veteran when they get injured, one of the first things they say is I want to be able to walk,” said Dr. White.
“We are one of the only hospitals who have taken exoskeletons out of the regular physical therapy clinics and put them in a separate clinic. So this clinic only see patients who use exoskeletons,” said Dr. Kathryn Fitzgerald, a physical therapist at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital working with patients like Stutson.
She continued, “This is the Ekso exoskeleton. It is one of our rehab exoskeletons here so we use this mainly for patients who are working on recovering their ability to walk. So it does part of the work of walking depending on how much help the patient needs. It does as much work as they need it to do and then we taper down how much the exoskeleton does so the patient is doing more."
“I wouldn’t be walking. I wouldn’t be up on my feet. I wouldn’t have the life I have right now or even the chance of a life in the future. I owe it all to this,” said Stutson.
“What was it like to take that first step for you?” asked St. Germain.
“It was very frustrating because I was trying to make my foot, trying to make my leg move and it wasn’t,” said Stutson.
He’s been working with the technology since December.
“It brings a lot of hope to people. The veterans who are using it and the veterans who get to see people up and walking around using this technology,” said Dr. Fitzgerald.
“What’s the goal?” asked St. Germain.
“The goal is a better life today than it was yesterday. I would like to see myself be able to walk again, but if I can just have a better life, that’s what it is. Enjoy. Have a fulfilling life,” said Stutson.
Dr. White said this exoskeleton equipment started out as something for the military to be able to offload their weight when in the field. Then they realized they could use the technology to help spinal cord injury patients.
