A robotic apparatus being tested in Detroit helps paralyzed firefighter walk again

DETROIT (WXYZ) - New technology is being tested here in Detroit that is helping people to walk again with the help of a robotic apparatus.

32-year-old Brendan Milewski, who is paralyzed from the waist down, is getting the chance to naturally walk again for the first time in over a year with the help of robotic legs.

The Washington Township man lost the use of his legs in August.  A 12-year veteran of the Detroit Fire Department, he was one of several firefighters injured during an arson fire on Detroit’s east side.

“We’re all given a pretty strict sentence.  Everybody gives us nothing but doom and gloom when we get out of the hospital,” said Brendan Milewski.  “They give you the worst case scenario and tell you you’re never going to walk again.”

Now a robotic skeleton called Ekso is changing the game and giving him new hope.

“I’d love to get outside and go for a walk.  I’d love to go out to the park and go to the beach and not have to bring a wheelchair,” said Milewski.

The machine is not invasive.  It is made up of four motors for the knees and hips and 15 sensors that detect movement.  A physical therapist uses one remote control while Milewski has another one in his crutches.  Then he moves his legs himself.

The CEO of Ekso Bionics, a California company, says the idea came from trying to create super soldiers for the military.

“In the beginning we were looking at how we could improve strength and endurance of soldiers,” said Eythor Bender, CEO of Ekso Bionics.  “Soon, we started to be embraced by people who said, you could actually help people to walk out of wheel chairs.”

Right now the machine is in a trial period, but the Detroit Medical Center Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan will be one of the first Ekso centers in the world and the first in the state to receive one in April. 

Milewski is not sure the Ekso will be the magic machine to help him walk by himself again, but he is definitely not going to give up hope.

“I don’t know, but at least it’s something to get me out of my chair in the meantime,” said Milewski.

The company hopes that patients like Milewski can eventually take this device home with them within the next 2-5 years.