Ted Walker: In the Beginning

Blog Test Pilot Journey: Ted Walker ted@theyshallwalk.org

May 27, 2009

I met Monty in the year of 2001 at our church. He showed me the suit, and I looked at it, and said to myself  “No way I’m going to get in that!”   I was looking at one of the early prototypes of the LIFESUIT.  Today it is better but still not ready for me.  I am looking forward to prototype LS16 that could be ready by next year.   

I have had Cerebral Palsy since birth.  My mother, I can thank God for her, she would never let me be lazy.  She would say to me, “You can do it!”  At that time I was walking with a walker. 

In third grade I started to go around to the different schools to see if they would pick up where she left off.  She wanted me to walk; she encouraged me to try as hard as I could to stay on my feet so I would bear weight.  It turns out, years later, that the doctors confirmed what my mother knew in her heart.  So the lesson here is, of course, listen to mother’s intuition because: Mother knows best! 

Mother had a doctor that agreed with her at the time, but the schools would not hear of it.  The doctor said “If you ever take him (me, Ted) off of his feet you are asking for problems.”  At the time my legs were perfect, they were straight and worked very well.   The school required me to be in a wheelchair.  They wanted to tear down everything my mother had helped me accomplish.  They were the authority over me, and as far as me being a student in their school, well, I had to do what I was told. 

As my doctor and my mother suspected, when I spent so much time in the wheelchair my legs began to draw up into my chest.  The muscles shrank (atrophied) and it became hard to straighten them. 

When I got home from school mom and I had to undo everything they had caused. 

We found another school; we hoped it would be better.  It turns out, I took my walker with me to the school and they just put it in the shed.  “Here we go again” The walker got ruined. 

Fast forward to today.

As part of They Shall Walk’s programs I now have volunteers that help me with physical therapy and exercises a couple of days a week.

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