Faces of Frazier: Harkema and the Science of Walking

Susan J. Harkema, Ph.D. is the director of research at the Frazier Rehab Institute, where she has pioneered the development of Locomoter Training that is helping many of Frazier's spinal cord patients learn to walk again. Locomotor Training re-teaches walking by providing sensory cues that can be recognized by the circuitry of the spinal cord and promote better muscle patterns for walking. The program has three components:

1. Step training: Patients are suspended in a harness to support their weight while specially trained physical therapists assist them in walking on a treadmill. This training allows the nervous system to relearn the motions associated with walking.

2. Overground Walking Training: Patients take their newly trained walking skills to the ground, concentrating on specific limitations to independent walking, including gait deviations.

3. Community Ambulation Training: Patients reach their potential for safe and effective
movement at home and in their communities, through carefully-monitored training in natural environments. A side benefit of Dr. Harkema's Locomotor Training is that patients are healthier. When wheelchair bound, patients frequently suffer from pulmonary and cardiovascular
problems, along with metabolic problems, diabetes, and muscle and bone loss. With this intervention, people experience better overall health and report a better quality of life.

“I feel particularly lucky to have access to the Locomotor Training that the gym offers," says Liz Fust, one of Frazier's patients learning to walk again through this groundbreaking therapy. "It makes a world of difference in how I feel and function.”

Dr. Harkema's research on human locomotion and the ability to recover is informing new strategies that can be used by physical therapists for the rehabilitation of patients who have experienced neurologic injury. Proceeds from the Red Carpet & Bluegrass Benefit will help Frazier extend Dr. Harkema's Locomotor Training to many more patients who hope to once again do what so many of us take for granted: put one foot in front of the other.

Faces of Frazier: The Chase is On!

Chase Ford is just one of many miracles at the Frazier Rehab Institute. When he was only two years old, Chase's life changed forever after playtime on the couch with his brother turned tragic. Jumping up and down, Chase fell backwards and hit his head on the wooden armrest--something I'm sure we've all done in our childhood--and as fate would have it, he was paralyzed from the neck down. "When he got hurt, I asked one doctor the prognosis," says Renee Ford, Chase's mother. "He said, 'Your son will be in a wheelchair forever.'"

But this past April, Chase proved them wrong; he walked across the finish line of the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon without assistance (photo above)!

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and University of Louisville's own Susan Harkema, Ph.D., pioneered and funded Frazier's Locomoter Training that brought Chase from zero mobility from the neck down to being able to walk over 100 yards without assistance. The program involves suspending patients in harnesses over treadmills while therapists move their legs to simulate walking. Chase was the youngest child to ever undergo this type of therapy.

"When I first got the opportunity to work with Chase he was unable to stand, and he was unable to walk by himself without assistive devices," says Lee Smith, Chase's physical therapist for the last year. Now, Chase looks forward to running again.

On the possibilities, Lee notes, "We're finding out about what we are capable of doing." On the great demand for Frazier's cutting edge therapy, "There are a lot of other people out there that we could be able to help if we just had the funding."

Want more on Chase and his inspiring journey? You simply must check out this video!

Special thanks to the Fords for allowing me to share Chase's powerful story.