Fifteen months ago, Kristen Adlhoch, now 19, collapsed on the beach after her first attempt at surfing. Diagnosed with surfer's myelopathy, "a rare condition in which repeated hyperextension of the back causes a loss of blood flow to the spinal cord" that affects first-time surfers, Adlhoch was paralyzed from the waist down.
Today she can walk again — with the assistance of crutches and a muscle-stimulating electronic device called the NESS L300.
A small transmitter in Adlhoch's shoe works with a cuff strapped below the knee to combat "foot drop," the inability to raise the front part of the foot. A wireless remote lets her adjust stimulation levels.
"When Adlhoch tries to walk, the L300 sends electronic signals to stimulate the peroneal nerve — which runs along the shin — which in turn signals underactive muscles to help her lift her foot," The Denver Post reports.
"I think from the very beginning I knew there was a reason that it happened, and I knew that something good could come out of it, if I let it," Adlhoch told TODAY's David Gregory. "If I allowed it to be a negative thing it would be, but if I allowed myself to grow from it, it would be a positive thing."
"She's a tough kid," Adlhoch's father, Joe, said. "She's only 19, and she has her whole life ahead of her, and she wants to get going."
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