LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB NEWS) -- Three local women are running a marathon to help their boyfriends learn to walk again.
Hanna Alcock, Julie Grauert, and Kaitlyn Kiely have been training for months for the New York City marathon on Sunday, Nov 3. Mile after mile, they don't take any steps for granted.
"We kind of all got together one night and decided we need to this,” Kiely said.
They're doing it for the men they love. Rob Summers, Matt Wetherbee and Jerod Nieder are paralyzed.
Once a star college baseball player, Summers was hit by a car in his driveway. "I laid there in the driveway looking at the stars, thinking this is it,” Summers said. “It's over."
Whetherbee was hurt playing a game of pickup basketball. "I was very active beforehand,” he said.
Nieder was on a family vacation enjoying a day on the beach, but was severely injured diving into the ocean. "It all changed right then,” he said.
The couples recently quit their jobs, packed up their lives, and moved to Louisville to be part of a major research study. "The future of curing spinal cord injuries is right here,” Grauert said.
The groundbreaking research is being conducted by the University of Louisville in the Frazier Rehab Institute.
"Somebody has to be the first, and these boys are the first,” Grauert said. “They're the first to put their lives on pause, to make sure that everyone else who is ever injured is going to have a chance to move, to walk, and to live again."
Something called an epidural stimulator, implanted into the spine through surgery, is giving these men the power to move again. Summers was the first human to have the procedure nearly 10 years ago.
"Our study is to show with the help of epidural stimulation and training we can recover function, standing, and other functions, cardiovascular functions in individuals with complete spinal cord injury,” Dr. Claudia Angeli, the University of Louisville Professor overseeing the study, said.
The progress is so astounding you have to see it for yourself. Nieder can move his leg up and down on his own. "It's just amazing what is possible with the stimulator,” He said.
Summers and Whetherbee are standing for hours at a time.
"In just a short amount of time, not even a full a year since I started the standing, I've been able to make huge progress with that,” Whetherbee said.
Summers has regained much of his upper body strength and can even take a few steps. The men are doing things they could only dream about doing before.
"Twelve years ago, 13 years ago that seemed like a dream that may never happen, and today because of all of the people and the teamwork that we put into this, that dream is now a reality,” Summers said.
The women are running to raise money for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. The organization is funding this life changing research.
“Them dedicating their time and their bodies to run a marathon for the dream that one day we will be able to walk that distance, that is love, that is teamwork,” Summers said.
Each dollar makes a difference and will help give others a chance to experience these amazing results and help researchers get closer to a cure.
"We know how lucky we are to be living like this, but everyone with paralysis should get this chance,” Nieder said.
On Sunday the women will run more than 55,000 steps, so someday the men they love can take their first.
"Every single step that you know we run, we run for our significant others, we run for those who can't walk,” Alcock said. “And we run for those who want to be part of this program."
If you would like to donate to help the women reach their fundraising goal, click here.
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