TESTIMONIAL EUROPE 1
It's the story of a rebirth. That of Thibault, 28, quadriplegic for four years and a bad fall. Today, this young Lyonnais manages to take a few steps thanks to the work of a team of Grenoble scientists. If he manages to move in this way, it is thanks to an exoskeleton, an outer armor that encompasses the upper and lower limbs. Everything is controlled thanks to electrodes implanted in his brain.
"With the exoskeleton, to be able to make movements, I do exactly like you," says Thibaultà Europe 1. "That is to say, when you think of walking, you think to move your legs one before the other one, I'm doing exactly the same, leap my brain turns on but the control does not go in. The spinal cord is damaged, and suddenly my muscles do not get movement, but my brain is trying to do it like you when you walk in. It's the implants that suddenly receive the info and make the exoskeleton work for me. "
"It changed my life"
The return to a normal life remains however far away. "At the moment, it allows me to walk, to move my arms in three dimensions, without tiring myself for two hours, because I have a little mobility at the shoulders but after ten minutes I start to to have tired arms, "explains the young man. "And there, very soon, I hope I can open and close my hands".
Although there is still work, the change has been beneficial for Thibault. "It changed my life, it was a bit like being the first man on the moon," smiles the Lyonnais. "Taking one step, then another, when I had not walked for two years, it was both an upheaval and a first door to a world that I thought was inaccessible. also allowed me, beyond taking one step after another, it was a step to tell me that I was able to do something in my life, despite my chair, my handicap. we can really build and do something and invest in projects, despite all that. "