Robotic device helps paralyzed groom walk aisle
Posted: October 20, 2014 - 4:13am
Jordan Basile, left, and Matt Ficarra, center, exchange wedding vows Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, at the Doubletree hotel in Syracuse, N.Y. Presiding over the ceremony is Ted Limpert. Ficarra, who was paralyzed in an accident in 2011, used a robotic-like device called an Ekso with the help of Nicole Smith, second right, and Frank Hyland from Good Shepard in Allenton Pa. (AP Photo/The Syracuse Newspapers, Dennis Nett)
DEWITT, N.Y. (AP) -- New York resident Matt Ficarra has been paralyzed from the chest down since an accident three years ago, but that didn't stop him from walking down the aisle. Ficarra was able to stand and walk during the wedding ceremony in suburban Syracuse on Saturday with the help of a battery-powered robotic exoskeleton called an Ekso. He tells the Syracuse Post-Standard he's been driving to a rehabilitation center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, weekly since April to practice walking with it. Ficarra has been paralyzed since he broke his neck in a boating accident in 2011. He married Jordan Basile in the ballroom of the Doubletree Hotel in DeWitt. The couple leaves Monday for a honeymoon in Jamaica.

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