New technology in the Roanoke Valley helps Patrick County amputee walk again

(Copyright by WSLS - All rights reserved)

ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Technology in the Roanoke Valley is helping a Patrick County woman walk again. It's called the Alter-G anti-gravity treadmill.

It was patented by NASA in 2013 and is used by the NFL. Now, the Springtree Health and Rehabilitation Center in Roanoke is the first rehabilitation facility in the Roanoke Valley to invest in this new technology.

Recommended Videos



Step by step, 70-year-old Beatrice Hughes regains her strength with the help of this anti-gravity treadmill.

"When I talked to the doctor, he told me you have got one of two options: we can take your leg and we can treat you with an antibiotic or we can consider amputation," said Hughes. "My exact words to him were 'cut if off'."

Problems started for Hughes last summer when she experienced a stroke and broke her ankle. Then it became infected. After a month of intolerable pain, she made the choice for doctors to amputate her leg.

Now, with a new limb that just doesn't feel like her own, the Alter-G anti-gravity treadmill is teaching Hughes how to adjust.

"It has helped me to walk better, because I know more on how to place my feet," commented Hughes.

First, Hughes zips up in an airtight bag. The cockpit, as they call it, fills with air, calibrates her weight and then determines how much air is needed to make Hughes feel lighter.

"It eliminates body weight," said the center's physical therapist Cameron Blount. "We can take up to 65 to 70 percent of their body weight off of them while walking on the treadmill. So, they don't have pain, because they don't have all their body weight coming down on their legs as they are walking."

With a camera below pointed towards Hughes's feet, a monitor above displays her exact foot movements. This allows physical therapists to then focus on the mechanics of walking.

"I'm just so pleased with how far I've come and that I'm going to be able to run...maybe pretty soon," chuckled Hughes.

70-year-old Hughes told us with the help of this new technology, nothing will keep her down.