Personal Stories

Jason's Story

After his motocross-racing injury, Jason started racing again, this time in his wheelchair. But it wasn't long before Jason suffered an onset of severe spasticity in his legs and back. "The spasms were so bad they would throw me backward out of my chair," he recalls.
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Joey's Story

Before his accident, Joey had the muscular body of a speed skater, About a month after the accident, he regained feeling in his body – and spasticity soon followed. He says, "All the muscles I had built up started working against me."
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Jenny's Story

Jenny had been a competitive gymnast since she was three years old. She was 16 when she injured her spinal cord. After her injury, Jenny took oral medications to control her spasticity, but they made her sleepy. "I was in college and falling asleep," she says.
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Mary N.'s Story

As an orthopaedic surgeon, Mary was comfortable with surgery and the associated risks. But when she went in for a same-day kyphoplasty to stabilize a bone fracture, she didn't expect to be paralyzed by a surgical complication.
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Tim's Story

Tim was a foreman at an electric company. While working one day in 1998, he was electrocuted. After he woke up from his nine-week coma, his spasticity was so severe that it interfered with physical therapy.
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Section Navigation

• Personal Stories
• Jason's Story
• Joey's Story
• Jenny's Story
• Mary N.'s Story
• Tim's Story

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