"New
science helps a paralyzed man move his legs for the first time in years"
By:
Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield
Source:
CNN News
Every
morning for two and a half years, Calvin Goza attempted to move his legs, desperately
awaiting the day for a small change. An accident with a drunken driver was the
cause of Goza's paralysis. "No amount of wishful thinking could help him
move his legs again" (Cohen and Bonieifield, 1). On December 25, Goza got
another chance. At the University of Louisville, Goza was given the chance to
receive a new therapy, which was designed to help him move his legs again. Sensors
were attached up and down his leg. The researchers had inserted electrodes in
his spine and on his toe was placed a ring and a string. The goal was for Goza
to try and pull that string with his toe. For a couple hours, the scientists
tried sending jolts of electricity
to the receptors surgically implanted in Goza's
spine, but nothing happened. They amped it up, and Goza's toe moved the string,
but what is more amazing is that he also bent his knee. ""It was
pretty awesome," Goza said. "I questioned it at first: Maybe it
didn't actually happen, and I was just hoping it did"" (Cohen and
Bonieifield, 1). Doctors are optimistic, and they hope that Goza will have the
chance to walk again. Other paralyzed men have also encountered benefits from
the therapy that may be even more significant than walking.
This article is important as it shows today's
technological and scientific advances. It reveals that science can make the
impossible possible. But most importantly this article inserts faith in people.
Faith, that maybe one day all of the pain in the world will be gone.
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