diRuggiero Corcella
The story of Alex Santucci, quadriplegic after an accident that forced him into a wheelchair, among the first patients to experiment with the Twin exoskeleton
Alex Santucci, in short, as a “patient zero” what is life like with an exoskeleton?
«After the accident it was hard physically and psychologically. Her legs weren’t responding and in any case the feeling of not being able to walk again was really bad. I spent the first 2 of the 6 months of hospitalization stuck in bed. Little by little I started to move my legs a little again, my arms a little and, around the third month, I started using Twin (HERE the article). After the first 10 steps, something mentally ignited that gave me the green light to continue. From 10 they became 20, then 30 and so on.”
Alex Santucci is 49 years old, lives in Bologna with his partner and three cats.
He works as an employee for a company that controls and manages plumbing systems of important public and private structures in the metropolitan area. He trains in the gym and is a motorsport enthusiast. He also recently took part in a sports driving course with adapted vehicles at the Imola racetrack.
Alex Santucci at the Montecatone Rehabilitation Institute (Photo: Iit)
After a car accident in 2020, in which he suffered incomplete quadriplegia, Alex began his rehabilitation journey at the Montecatone Rehabilitation Institute.
In 2021, on his second hospitalization in the Imola facility, he accepted the proposal to become a patient experimenter as part of the Twin project, thanks to a collaboration between the Institute and the Inail Prosthetic Center in Vigorso di Budrio.
The new Twin exoskeleton for Alex is an important rehabilitation tool from both a physical and psychological point of view.
Verticalization allows you to stand at the level of someone who is standing and to be more independent within the home or office walls to retrieve objects that are difficult to reach while sitting.
“When they put me on my feet for the first time, it was like feeling 3 meters tall,” says Santucci
Furthermore, assisted walking allows the freedom to change position, has benefits for the circulatory system and the musculoskeletal system and constitutes an excellent workout in itself.
How is the situation today?
«Let’s say that day after day the expectations improved more and more because the first sessions were 4, 5, 10 meters… with a lot of pain… as we went on the autonomies improved so we managed to walk for half an hour, reaching up to 40 minutes”.
The “secret” to succeed in the business?
«There are three fundamental points: first, the aid of the exoskeleton; secondly, physiotherapists, collaborators and technicians and all the people who follow these projects and thirdly, no less important, the head. This is what gives me the strength to continue.”
Would you recommend it?
«The new exoskeleton is a great opportunity for people in wheelchairs and I hope that it will soon become a tool for daily or at least frequent use» he replies.
February 23, 2024 (changed February 23, 2024 | 2:30 pm)
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