For the last 33 years, Terry Labar has not been able to walk.
Terry, a veteran of the United States Marines, suffered a terrible tragedy three decades ago. He was serving overseas in the Middle East when the unthinkable happened: a car slammed into him on a road while he was on duty.
Terry barely remembers the incident, other than vague details of the collision causing him to go up and over the car that hit him. “I woke up the first day in Richmond and rolled over and saw the wheelchair next to the bed,” he said. “Then it dawned on me. That was for me.”
In fact, because of the collision, Terry, a Fredericksburg, Virginia, resident, became paralyzed from the waist down, and has been for the last 30 years.
Fortunately, he never let his disability get him down. Rather, he has been aiming to live his life to the fullest ever since.
The married dad of two has since competed in marathons and carried the Olympic torch in 1996. He also worked 20 years with the FBI.
“I think that is the best thing for anyone with a disability. Work with what you have, make the best of it, and have a positive attitude,” he said.
Most recently, Terry did something he never thought he would do again.
He was fitted with a motorized exoskeleton, a new form of experimental technology. Once he gets used to it in physical therapy, he will be able to use one at home.
In the video below, with the help of the exoskeleton, Terry took his first step since 1984.
“I remember standing up, and I felt 10-feet tall,” he said. “It was really surreal, it really was.”
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