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Paralyzed patient moves legs again after 23 years
20 patients with paraplegia are seeing improvements after receiving a spinal cord implant.
MINNEAPOLIS — More than 300,000 Americans live with spinal cord injuries, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, and many dream of walking again.
Crystal LaBo is one of them.
“I’ve always had the mindset that I would walk again someday,” LaBo said.
LaBo has paraplegia and has been in a wheelchair for 23 years.
She was involved in a car accident on Oct. 8, 1999 and hasn’t been able to walk since.
“When I was at the scene of the car accident we knew. I couldn’t feel anything from my chest down,” LaBo said.
Since her accident, LaBo has applied for nearly a dozen medical studies to see if she could get back some of the mobility in her legs.
“I was always turned down,” LaBo explains.
“The problem with mine is that my date for my injury is out so far. Most studies don’t include people that have the injury date out so far.”
In 2021 LaBo applied for a study at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis.
However, this time, doctors accepted her application.
“She is really our furthest out from injury,” Dr. David Darrow says.
Dr. Darrow is the principal investigator for Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute’s E-STAND clinical trial.
The trial has included 20 patients like LaBo who suffer from paralysis and are willing to have an epidural spinal cord stimulation implant surgically implanted near their spine.
For nearly 50 years, spinal cord stimulation has been used to help patients with chronic pain.
Dr. Darrow said doctors recently discovered that the technology could also be used to help paraplegic patients recover some movement.
“Over time what we have found is sure enough in 20 out of 20 patients we see significant effects across the board,” Dr. Darrow explains.
Doctors say patients have seen improvements in movement and mobility in their legs, improved blood circulation, and increased control over their bowels and bladders.
LaBo says she is experiencing improvements in all of those areas, and she is also experiencing an improvement in her body’s ability to regulate temperature.
“I used to be cold all the time and now I’m not. I’m much more comfortable now,” LaBo says.
LaBo and her husband Dustin live in Bryan, Ohio.
Together they have four kids, and they own a restaurant that specializes in grilled cheese.
“We have 16 to 18 different kinds of grilled cheese available,” Dustin LaBo said.
Crystal works nearly every job at the restaurant, including waiting tables, which has become a bit of a challenge since her legs started moving again
“So, I have a tray on my lap with food and drinks and my legs will kick up. The other day the tray kicked up and hit me in the fact,” LaBo laughs.
A small price to pay for everything she has gained these past two months.
“Every day I see a little more movement, a little more control. The first time she did it, I’ll never forget that look on her face. She was just like, it was the greatest day of her life, and she was like, ‘I did it. I did it,”’ Dustin LaBo said.
Dr. Darrow and his team are now building a case to get FDA approval.
They want to enroll at least 20 more patients to show how well their procedure works.
“Then my job is convincing insurance companies to pay for it, which is a big job, but we think results are robust enough and the cost is reasonable,” Dr. Darrow said.
Over time Dr. Darrow is hoping to bring this procedure to more patients like Crystal, who dreams of taking her first step in 23 years, and maybe even walking again.
“I’ll get there one day. It might take a while, but I’ll get there.”
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“Although it was chaotic, there was some of that chaos that might sway some people to another side,” Jake Slack, a senior at the University of St. Thomas, said.
MINNEAPOLIS — Tuning out politics with just weeks until an election can admittedly be difficult, but if you thought young voters weren’t paying attention – think again.
“I actually did watch the whole thing with some of my roommates,” Peter Kapsner, a junior at the University of St. Thomas who leans towards former President Donald Trump, said. “I thought it was really good debate. Both candidates had good game plans that they stuck to.”
“I just feel like it was much more of a debate than what we saw last time,” Deya Ahmed, a sophomore at the U of M, said.
Many we spoke with said they watched parts or the entirety of the debate.
“I think what really needed to be done was to bring excitement to voting, which I don’t think happened during the debate, especially for the youth vote,” Drue Bower, a first-year grad student at the U of M, said.
No matter who we spoke with, students on every side of the political aisle told us they were watching, forming new opinions, or deepening their connection to thoughts they already had.
“I do think I’m going to end up voting for Kamala when the election comes around,” Gavan Townsend, a third-year student at the U, said.
“I would say I’m more towards the right,” Yaphet Gg, a third-year student at the U of M, said. “I think he’s generally doing a good job of trying to attack Kamala for his base,”
That also includes voters who may have fallen more into the undecided camp.
“I was kind of leaning more towards Trump, but this kind of has me thinking a little bit more about, like, how level-headed the Harris campaign is,” U of M freshman Chase Ben-Avraham said.
What could sway young voters, they say – Taylor Swift’s endorsement of the Harris/Walz campaign, though not all agree.
“If Trump starts attacking her, they’re going to react and go, ‘Okay, this is it, I’m voting,'” Henry Kopp, a sophomore at the U, said.
“If you’re a Hulk Hogan, Harrison Butker or Kid Rock fan, you know, you’re probably already leaning right,” Benjaman Lindeen, a fourth-year student at the U of M, said. “If you’re, you know, really swayed by what Steve Kerr or Stephen Curry or Taylor Swift say, you’re probably already voting left. So I think from even a statistic standpoint, it’s probably marginal at best.”
With young voters paying close attention, they say you should do the same.
“Although it was chaotic, there was some of that chaos that might sway some people to another side,” Jake Slack, a senior at St. Thomas, said.
Synchronize your watches! The award-winning best new musical sets its destination to the Orpheum.
MINNEAPOLIS — You don’t need to build a flux capacitator to travel back in time and relive an ’80s phenomenon.
“Back to the Future the Musical,” which won the 2022 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, is coming to the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis at the beginning of fall.
The London’s West End and Broadway show is based on the 1985 blockbuster film that spawned two sequels: “Back to the Future Part II” in 1989 and “Back to the Future Part III” in 1990. All three films combined grossed nearly a billion dollars.
The award-winning musical stars Caden Brauch as Marty McFly, Don Stephenson as Doc Brown and Ethan Rogers as Biff Tannen.
“Back to the Future the Musical” officially premiered at the Manchester Opera House on March 11, 2020. It then had a huge run at London’s West End beginning in 2021 and hit Broadway in August of 2023.
The musical is directed by Tony Award-winner John Rando with original music by multi-Grammy-winners Alan Silvestri (“Avengers: Endgame”) and Glen Ballard (Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”), alongside songs from the movie including “The Power of Love,” “Johnny B. Goode” and “Back in Time.”
“Back to the Future the Musical” will play at the Orpheum from Tuesday, Sept. 10 to Sunday, Sept. 22.
Tickets, which start at $50, will go on sale at HennepinTheatreTrust.org on Friday, June 14, 2024, at 10 a.m.
The production contains flashing lights, strobe effects, pyrotechnics and is recommended for ages 6 and up.
Its run time is 2 hours and 35 minutes and includes one intermission.
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Marina Dougall, 36, was last seen in Minneapolis in September of last year but wasn’t reported missing until May 2024.
ANOKA COUNTY, Minn. — The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public to help find a missing Anoka County woman who they believe is without critical medication.
Marina Dougall, 36, was last seen in Minneapolis in September of last year but wasn’t reported missing until May 2024. Police said her family hasn’t heard from her since she was last seen.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released a statement Wednesday, saying Dougall was known to frequent the Franklin Avenue North area of Minneapolis as well as places throughout Anoka County and across the Twin Cities metro. Investigators said she may have been in the area of Burnett County, Wisconsin last September, before being dropped off at the Norwoood Inn in Roseville.
MISSING: Investigators believe Marina Dougall may have been in the in the Burnett County, Wisconsin, area Sept. 20-22, 2023, and then dropped off at the Norwood Inn in Roseville. Anyone with information on Marina Dougall’s whereabouts is urged to call 911. pic.twitter.com/HhfAeFGiJZ
— Minnesota BCA (@MnDPS_BCA) September 11, 2024
The BCA said Dougall has a medical condition that requires medication, and that she also has a history of mental health and substance abuse issues.
Dougall is described as 5’9 and 140 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. She also has a chipped front tooth, flower tattoos on her right hand and left shoulder, a snowflake tattoo on her right abdomen and a large tattoo on her back.
The BCA added Dougall was born in Russia and speaks with a slight accent.
If you’ve seen Dougall or know any information about her whereabouts, you’re urged to call 911 or contact the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office at 763-324-5209.
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