BELLEVUE, Pa. (KDKA) — New technology is bringing healing and hope to a young woman who suffered a rare stroke that left her paralyzed from the waist down.
A trampoline accident in 2020 resulted in a spinal cord stroke for Mary Maloney, the daughter of former KDKA reporter Pam Surano. She found herself unable to walk, but she and her family remained determined to move forward.
“There’s nothing you won’t try. You’ll go to the ends of the world,” Surano said. “You will spend every dollar. You will spend every minute of your day researching, thinking and trying anything.”
Thanks to this commitment, Maloney can put on the exoskeleton and walk. The new technology is an intelligent robot that offers hope.
“I just remember getting into the exoskeleton. It’s so amazing and strong and he’s smart and he knows,” Maloney said. “And it works with you, and you just feel this glimmer of hope and it just gives you the strength that you need, and it compensates you until you learn to do it yourself. That was it simply incredible.”
Weighing 50 pounds, the robotic exoskeleton allows patients like Maloney to practice balancing, weight shifting and walking. This is all possible thanks to the creator’s company Eksobionics, the Allegheny Health Network, and the fundraising efforts of many in the community.
“I don’t want to sound too cliché, but it’s so true,” Surano said. “At Christmas I re-watched ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and I thought of that moment of George Bailey in his moment of despair and he cries out to God, cries out to his guardian angel, and who comes to his rescue? community. And that’s really what Pittsburgh is.”
Maloney plans to work hard throughout the year in physical therapy before graduating from North Catholic High School and heading off to college in the fall.
While so many changes are approaching, one thing remains: his faith and his positive attitude.
“Someone at the hospital right now is begging for whatever opportunity you have,” she said. “Getting up and walking in an exoskeleton, going to college. Waking up in the morning and having breakfast is a blessing. Even being alive. So, I think that’s what I keep at the forefront of my mind.”
This technology isn’t just available to Maloney. It’s here and ready for anyone who needs it after suffering a stroke, spinal cord injury, or brain injury.
