第3018期:Exoskeleton devices help paralyzed people stand up again

When I was 18 years old, I was in a motor vehicle accident and I sustained a T-12 burst fracture to my spinal cord. It left me paralyzed from the waist down.18岁时，我出了车祸，胸椎第12节爆裂性骨折，腰部以下瘫痪了。My friends and I were getting ready to go out to dinner and I had stepped out on to the balcony to make a phone call.我和朋友们正准备出去吃晚餐，我走到阳台上打电话。And I went to go sit on the railing and I just fell right back off of it and I landed on the ground three stories below.我坐在栏杆上，接着就直接从上面往后摔了下去，落在了下面三层楼的地面上。The next thing I remember, I was in the medical clinic. I had to re-learn everything that I had taken for granted so few weeks before.等我醒过来的时候已经在医院了。我不得不重新学习几周前我还习以为常的事情。I remember a big goal of mine was to put on my pants by myself.我还记得当时连自己穿裤子都是一个大挑战。I suffered multiple strokes. The process of being strapped in makes you feel more and more secure because there are many, they kind of pinpointed the areas where people would feel kind of sensitive.我多次中风。 这个绑紧的过程让我感到越来越安全，因为新设备上面有很多传感器可以感应到人体的敏感部位。The machine really supports you. This is like a big hug around my waist.这个设备真的可以把你支撑起来。就好像有人用力抱住了我的腰。My physical therapist told me that it was possible for me to get in this exoskeleton device and get up and start walking again and that was news to me.我的物理治疗师告诉我，我有可能穿上这个外骨骼装置，站起来重新开始行走，这真的是个大消息。Ekso Bionics was originally a research project at UC Berkeley.Ekso Bionics最初是加州大学伯克利分校的一个研究项目。They were studying how to make soldiers be able to carry more capacity further without injuring the soldiers.他们当时研究的是如何让士兵能够携带更多物资走得更远，同时不使士兵受伤。And that technology developed all kinds of different human wearable robotics that could allow people to do things they otherwise couldn't do.这项技术开发了各式各样的可穿戴机器人，让人们实现以前做不到的事情。The first time I stood up in Ekso, it was a little terrifying but so exciting. But once I got the hang of it, it was so great. I couldn't get the smile off of my face.第一次穿上Ekso站起来时，感觉有点可怕但又非常激动。当我掌握要领后，感觉实在太棒了。我笑个不停。It's crazy to think that in just a year and a half, I went from my normal life to the lowest point in my life back to basically where I was before if not better.想想真是疯狂，在短短一年半的时间里，我从正常生活跌至人生低谷，然后又基本回到了正常生活。