Robotic exoskeleton allows paralyzed man to walk down the aisle at his wedding

Robotic exoskeleton allows paralyzed man to walk down the aisle at his wedding
(Image credit: Twitter.com/TorontoStar)

With the help of a robotic exoskeleton, a man paralyzed from the chest down was able to walk down the aisle at his wedding in DeWitt, New York.

"It feels great to be married," Matt Ficarra told the Syracuse Post-Standard. "And I am so happy to have met my goal of walking at my wedding."

Ficarra, 30, was paralyzed following a 2011 boating accident. After proposing to his now-wife, Jordan Basile, last December, he decided he was not going to be in a wheelchair on his wedding day. To make this happen, in April Ficarra starting driving the seven hours to Allentown, Pennsylvania, once a week. At the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Center, he practiced walking with the Ekso, a battery-powered, portable device that straps onto a person with paralyzed legs and lets them walk.

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Ficarra's family was amazed to see him make his way down the aisle. "It's spectacular," his father, Frank Ficarra, told the Post-Standard. "He doesn't give up on anything. He's a gem." Watch the video below to see Ficarra's big moment. --Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.