Paralyzed U.C. Berkeley student Austin Whitney used an exoskeleton to walk over and pick up his diploma. (Photo: ABC News)
A Cal student who was paralyzed four years ago in a car accident walked across the stage — with the help of an exoskeleton designed by engineering students — and accepted his diploma Saturday at commencement exercises in Berkeley.
• Four years ago Austin Whitney, who had just graduated from high school, got behind the wheel after drinking with friends and crashed his vehicle into a tree. His spinal cord was instantly severed and he was paralyzed.
• Whitney — who has told his cautionary story to thousands of high schoolers in several states — graduated from U.C. Berkeley on Saturday. He used an exoskeleton to walk over and pick up his diploma.
• The device was developed by a team of engineering students. Whitney was on the team. They named the device after him.
Austin Whitney had just graduated from high school when his spinal cord was severed in a drunk driving accident in 2006. He was the drunk driver.
Whitney’s father told the Daily Californian that the teen had been partying with friends when he decided to get behind the wheel. A few blocks from home, he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree. The impact instantly severed his spinal cord and rendered him paraplegic.
“If somebody told me four years ago that I’d be walking at this graduation, I would have never believed them in a million years,” Whitney told ABC News on Saturday. But Whitney persevered. He enrolled in a community college a week after the accident. The following semester he studied at U.C. Santa Barbara before transferring to U.C. Berkeley for his sophomore year.
Whitney shares his story at high schools so teens can see the risks of drinking and driving. He has spoken to over 40,000 students in three states so far, in hopes that other teens might learn from his mistake, the Daily Cal reported.
“If one does, that gives all of this purpose and meaning,” Whitney told the Berkeley newspaper.
Last fall, Whitney heard that some graduate engineering student were working with Professor Homayoon Kazerooni to develop an exoskelton that would be both affordable and easy for paraplegics to use in everyday life. He joined the team as a sort of consultant, trying the device repeatedly to advise them about what did and didn’t work.
Mechanical designer Wayne Tung told the Daily Cal that Whitney squeezes handles to tell the computer in the back of the exoskeleton what he wants to do. The computer relays the message to two motors that power the mechanism in the hip and knees. Whitney can even control what type of steps he wants to take — full, short, feet together, and so on.
“I know that machine like it is my own legs,” Whitney told ABC News. Nevertheless, he was nervous and excited about walking across the stage to accept his diploma. ”Everything over the last four years and all the emotions of it are really going to be climaxed in those two seconds,” he said.
When the big moment came, Whitney pressed a button on his walker that signaled the exoskeleton to step forward — and the crowd burst into cheers. The proud graduate got a little too excited and didn’t shift his weight properly, which meant he was able to take only a few steps. But he was not disappointed.
“I’m still speechless,” Whitney told the Daily Cal. “Less than fours years ago, I was in a hospital bed thinking I was going to die. I can think of no greater gift.”
The exoskeleton, which the team intends to put on the market, will cost about the same amount as a motorized wheelchair. It’s name? Austin.
The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing spinal cord injury victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.
