Neuro Note 3

                                    Life after paralyzation: Janne Kouri at TEDxVeniceBeach

    During this TedTalk, Janne talks about a tragic accident that instantly paralyzed him. While playing volleyball at the beach with his friends, Janne ran into a wave and hit his head on a sandbar. After a gentleman rushed him to safety, Janne was able to get to the hospital. From that moment on, his life changed and he questioned everything. The doctors told him there was no hope for his recovery and he would never walk again, but Janne did not give up hope. He asked himself if wanted to be happy: and the answer was yes. He spent every day doing what made him happy and kept fighting. After a lot of research, he found Frasier Rehab in Louisville Kentucky, a progressive rehab facility. Janne and his girlfriend moved to Kentucky where he started therapy that focused on all of his weaknesses to try and regain function back. This is where Janne met Dr. Harkema, who invented locomotor training where you are on a treadmill and have trainers move your legs and arms to stimulate your nervous system. He started getting healthier due to increased circulation which allowed for an increased quality of life. He continued with his rehab while also completing research on the lack of resources thousands of people with spinal cord injuries had. Janne built Next Step Fitness in Los Angeles to ensure everyone could have the opportunity to progressive, affordable therapy.  

    After listening to this TedTalk, I looked more into locomotor training and found that it is an activity-based therapy that helps improve and recover walking movement through lower extremity weight bearing. This type of rehab is based on current knowledge of how the brain and spinal cord control stepping and how the nervous system learns a motor skill. The ultimate goal is to retrain participants to stand and walk again by utilizing body weight support on a treadmill. They do this by strapping a client in a harness and suspending it over a treadmill while therapists and technicians move the legs to stimulate walking at a normal pace. Many participants have seen improvements while using this type of therapy, including Janne Kouri. I chose this as part of this assignment because I was interested in learning about more progressive types of therapy and how they affect someone with a spinal cord injury. I learned that there is still so much more research to be done involving spinal cord injuries and no one should ever feel like they cannot have a good quality of life following a SCI. Janne never gave up hope and is now helping thousands of others receive affordable, good quality rehab so they can regain independence and happiness.    

I have attached an image of locomotor training. As you can see the therapists are assisting the client in walking as she is strapped into a harness that is suspended above the treadmill. 




                                                                            Sources

Life after paralyzation: Janne Kouri at TEDxVeniceBeach. (2013, December 24). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCxCFjmruSg

Locomotor Training Program | Shepherd Center. (2021). Shepherd Center. https://www.shepherd.org/patient-programs/specialty-programs/locomotor-training




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