Mount Pleasant Magazine March/April 2016

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driver’s test, before you’re even allowed
to take your exoskeleton home,” Adam
explained.
He wasn’t sure about the
exoskeleton at first; after all, he had
gotten used to life in his wheelchair.
But once he committed to it, which he
did in part for his friends and family,
he never thought about giving up.
“I felt like this is something I
needed to do. That needing to be
there turned into a wanting to be
there,” he said.
Because the exoskeleton requires
crutches and relies on a battery, Adam
doesn’t expect to use it 100 percent of
the time.
“Eventually, a realistic possibility
is 60 percent in the wheelchair
and 40 percent in the exoskeleton,
which I think could be an amazing
thing,” he said.
Adam pointed out that he can
stand and walk in the exoskeleton,
but he’s still paralyzed. He has no
sensation below the waist and can’t
feel the ground beneath his feet when
he walks. Still, he’s hopeful that a cure
for paralysis will be found within the
next five to 20 years.
For now, he’s focusing on what he
can do in the Bridge Run and with
his foundation, I Got Legs, which he
and his family started last year. Adam
wants the foundation to help bridge
the gap between able-bodied people
and disabled people.
“My disability affects me at a
primary level, and it affects my
able-bodied friends and family at a
secondary level,” he said. “There’s
nothing wrong with able-bodied
people admitting their friend or
family member’s injury is affecting
them. But people don’t like to talk
about stuff like that.”
With the support of his friends and
family and the community as a whole,
Adam is preparing to make history on
April 2 and to raise awareness while
doing it.
“It’s incredible; it really is. I’m
helping myself but I’m also helping
others,” Adam said.
Looking back on his injury, Adam
sees it as both the worst and the best
thing that ever happened to him
because it helped him grow as a person.
“I like seeing it like that,” he
mused. “I guess that’s what adversity
does to us – makes us be able to
empathize better with people.”
If you’d like to help Adam in his goal
of paying for his new legs, visit his
foundation page at ,
where you’ll find a link to contribute on
his GoFundMe page.
MOUNT PLEASANT
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Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
843.881.3111
WEST ASHLEY
2270 Ashley Crossing Dr., Ste 175,
Charleston SC 29414
843.410.5766
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ORAL & MAXILLOFACIAL
SURGERY OF THE LOWCOUNTRY
MATT DILLARD, DMD, MS
DONALD PHILLIPS, DMD