After being hospitalized for nearly four months, Brian was released and in outpatient care at Carolinas Rehab Hospital.  However, secondary health issues, including a severe pressure wound, halted his rehab progress, leaving him bedridden for seven months. Thankfully, the pressure wound resolved and Brian moved to Mooresville, NC to attend Race To Walk, (RTW) the first exercised-based facility in the southeast designed to maximize the potential of the paralyzed in order to work towards recovering as much function as possible following paralysis.   

Brian continues to receive intensive therapy at RTW four to five days a week and he has seen slow, but steady, improvements.  The goal of RTW therapies is to facilitate function returns in a cascading manner. To date, the RTW therapies have resulted in improved core strength and sitting balance.   Brian also has experienced glut muscles starting to fire, evidence of muscle tone in his thighs, and the return of sensation through the middle of his hips.

The traditional therapy Brian recieved through the rehab hospital was only designed to help an individual adapt to a new life with a wheelchair and does not promote an attempt to truly recover function.  It is because of this mindset when treating patients with spinal cord injury, like Brian, that most recovery activities, such as those provided by RTW, are not covered by insurance.  There are no guarantees that the therapies will result in complete return of function; however, these recovery techniques have been around for over a decade and many people have experienced recoveries that have greatly enhanced their quality of life. He has plans to attend the Kennedy Krieger Institute, an outpatient program affiliated with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, this spring to enhance the work he is doing at RTW.  Even with insurance, out of pocket costs for three to four weeks of therapy alone will cost over $7,000.  Moreover, the overall financial hardship associated with spinal cord injuries is overwhelming.  First year expenses alone average $283,388 and life expenses for paraplegics cost over $700,000 (National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, 2009).