While most people can’t even imagine climbing 103 flights of stairs on their own, Zac Vawter did it in 45 minutes- with a prosthetic leg.
Zac Vawter is a 31-year-old amputee from Yelm, Wash. who agreed to help test a new prosthetic leg that can be controlled by the user’s thoughts. On Nov. 6, 2012, he helped the bionic leg make its first debut to the public as he climbed 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago’s Willis Tower, one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers.
Vawter’s climb was a part of a charity event called “SkyRise Chicago,” which raised funds for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. The fundraiser had about 2,700 people climbing the tower, and this was the first time that the climb helped contribute to the facility’s research. With the number of leg amputees increasing today, the researchers at the facility are working hard to develop aids like the bionic leg to accompany the already developed bionic prosthetic arms.
“Somewhere down the road, it will benefit me and I hope it will benefit a lot of other people as well,” Vawter said about the research conducted at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago according to the Huffington Post.
With such notable technologies on the way, many people with physical disabilities like Vawter have great hopes in mind. Once developed completely and released to the public, the bionic leg will revolutionize society just like the bionic arm did, as thought-controlled prosthetic limbs have been beyond people’s imaginations in previous years.
“This is a step beyond the state of the art,” said Daniel Ferris from the University of Michigan, according to the Huffington Post. “If they can achieve it, it’s very noteworthy and suggests in the next 10 years or so there will be good commercial devices out there.”
The invention of these noteworthy devices show how rapidly today’s society is progressing. As we eagerly await the invention of the newest smart phone or computer, it is even more significant these days to also focus on those inventions that help our humankind survive- like the bionic leg.
