Help Zach Walk Again - Bioness Device

Hi Everyone,

As many of you know, my brother, Zach, had a traumatic accident in November 2022 that has forever changed his life. He incurred a spinal cord injury from breaking his back after falling 20 feet from a hunting stand (not to mention he broke his sternum and ribs as well). After originally being told he would never walk again due to being paralyzed from his chest down, he has continued to break barriers and beat the odds against him through his eleven months of relentless hard work and determination.

After spending two and a half months in the hospital at Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago, Illinois, Zach continued his outpatient therapy at one of Shirley Ryan’s day rehab locations in Arlington Heights, IL. He received roughly 30 hours a week of therapy specific to spinal cord injuries all while still living in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. He would drive back and forth so he could spend time with his three-year-old son, Kaden. His original, and once unimaginable, goal was to walk out of the main hospital rather than being pushed out in a wheelchair, and he accomplished it by leaving the hospital with the help of two forearm crutches. Then, while in outpatient, he set the goal of using a single cane, which he has also now accomplished in his daily life.

Although he’s already reached an outcome that roughly only 5% of SCI patients ever obtain to be mobile without the use of a wheelchair, he has set his next goal to walk independently. Due to this being a neurological injury, his brain is still sending mixed signals to his left leg that will not allow his muscles to fire at the correct times when trying to walk. Essentially, both his quad and hamstring muscle tend to fire at the same time, so he is not able to bend his knee and clear his foot without catching his toes on the ground. A temporary fix is to wear a brace to keep his toes up and larger shoes, all the while these issues cause balance problems which unfortunately leads to falls.

Fortunately, in rehab, Zach was introduced to a medical device called L300 Go by Bioness. This device uses functional electrical stimulation (FES) to stim the muscles needed to retrain the communication from his brain through his spinal cord to fire the correct muscles used to walk. This is a breakthrough device that could be the tool for Zach to reach his next goal of walking independently once again.

Zach was approved to purchase the Bioness, but unfortunately, this device is not covered by insurance and it will cost him over $9,000. With all of the expenses Zach has incurred since his accident with medical bills, home alterations, etc., we are setting up this GoFundMe to help alleviate some of this cost for him, and to help him reach a goal that once was not even a thought.

We want to thank everyone for their ongoing support for Zach as he continues his journey towards walking again.

Love,

The Rigsby Family

#Warrior

Follow Zach’s Journey on Instagram: https://instagram.com/zachrigs?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA==