MIRACLE

Parkinson’s Patient Walks Again After Receiving Spinal Implant

63-year-old Marc Gauthier, who has lived with the disease for over two decades, called his experience “a rebirth” and now walks 3.7 miles.

A 63-year-old Parkinson’s patient in France was the first to receive a new spinal implant created by a Swiss research team and, according to a report published in Nature Nov. 6, has been walking without issue. The patient, Marc Gauthier, has had Parkinson’s for over two decades and called his newfound success from the research “a rebirth.” Before the implant, Gauthier had severe mobility problems and would frequently fall. After the implant, though, he told The Guardian that he walks 3.7 miles every Sunday. Researchers created an implant that used electrodes to stimulate Gauthier’s spinal neurons. The system has yet to get a full clinical trial, but the researchers have enrolled six more patients to see if they can replicate Gauthier’s success.