FALL RIVER — For Gene Laureano, a paralyzed U.S. veteran, walking after being wheelchair-bound for more than a decade is a miracle created by technology and practiced with gratitude.
Laureano, a husband and father of three from the Bronx, was in Fall River Monday to be filmed for a video collaboration between ReWalk Medical Devices, based in Marlborough, and emagine communications, a digital web agency located at Commonwealth Landing in Fall River.
Laureano was happy to demonstrate the use of his exoskeleton after all it has done to change his life.
“I feel that my prayers were answered,” Laureano said.
ReWalk is a wearable robotic exoskeleton with powered hip and knee motion to enable people with spinal cord injuries to stand and walk again. They must be able to use their hands and shoulders to support crutches or a walker.
Laureano was filmed as he strapped the exoskeleton to his legs and around his waist. Using crutches, he was able to stand on his own and walk through Heritage State Park, with his wife Maria Laureano by his side.
The New York resident, 57, started using Re-Walk at the James J. Peters Veterans Administration in the Bronx in 2013 and got his own personal ReWalk in 2015 through a national policy to provide exoskeletons to injured veterans.
Laureano became a paraplegic after he fell 20 feet off a ladder in 2001 while working as a welder.
After finding himself in a wheelchair, Laureano said his days were boring and he considered himself “disabled. I didn’t have much hope.”
He said he thought he would “just exist” for the rest of his life.
That has all changed.
“It’s very motivational and very hopeful,” Laureano said.
Maria Laureano said it’s been a dream come true for the family. She said her husband was able to regain his independence. And, there are other benefits.
“Our son gets to see how tall he is,” Maria Laureano said. “He wants to be as tall as his dad.”
Laureano said he doesn’t think of himself as disabled anymore, but “differently abled. The disability doesn’t have me, I have it.”
ReWalk may be covered by insurance.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in 2015 announced a national policy to procure ReWalk systems for qualifying veterans.
“It’s amazing how technology has improved,” Laureano said.
More information about ReWalk as well as ReStore exo-suit for stroke rehabilitation, is available at rewalk.com or by calling 508-251-1154.
Email Deborah Allard at [email protected].