Mount Pleasant Magazine March/April 2016

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By Erin Danly
Photos courtesy of Adam Gorlitsky
Mount Pleasant resident
Adam Gorlitsky celebrated an unusual
anniversary on Dec. 30, 2015: It had
been 10 years since the auto accident that
left him paralyzed from the waist down.
During that decade, Adam has faced the challenge of
getting used to life in a wheelchair and leaving his sports-
playing high school days behind. Now, at the age of 29,
he’s tackling a new challenge: participating in the Cooper
River Bridge Run on April 2, not in his wheelchair but in
his exoskeleton, which would make him the first paralyzed
man to walk a large 10K.
According to ReWalk, the company that manufactures
the equipment, a “wearable robotic exoskeleton,” or
external skeleton, lets people with certain spinal cord
injuries stand and walk again – or, in Adam’s case, run
the bridge in what he described as “the pinnacle of the
Charleston races.”
The bionic contraption consists of braces that strap
onto the legs, a harness to keep it on the body and a pack
on the back with a rechargeable battery. Sensors at the hips
detect subtle changes in balance and pressure, activating
Startinga
MovementAdAM GorlitSky’S UnUSUAl BridGe rUn