EL DORADO, Kansas -- Imagine going off to war for your country young and full of life, but returning with an injury so bad that you may not be able to walk again. It happens every day to our brave soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, NASA has developed medical equipment that is helping the soldiers get back on their feet, but the technology is expensive and that's where three bicycle riders, who were at El Dorado Lake Thursday morning, come in.
They've traveled 1,680 miles to get to El Dorado Lake. They have more than 2,200 miles left to ride. Ken Messier, along with father and daughter team Peter and Karian Feitner, are biking across America to raise money to help soldiers who have been hurt in battle.
“The target soldiers are soldiers who have had traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries -- it can also benefit those who have had other types of leg injuries,” said Messier. “What the secure ambulation module does is stand people who have a difficult time standing or have no balance.”
The secure ambulation module was developed at the Goddard Space Flight Center by NASA. Each one costs $1,500. The team has raised enough money to buy four so far. “Primarily we've gotten them to Walter Reed because that is where most of the soldiers from Iraq were first coming,” Messier said. The team wants to raise $250,000 to put the equipment in military facilities and VA hospitals across the country. Ken says the equipment is needed immediately by soldiers who have paid a big price for defending our freedom. “At Walter Reed, as an example, there was a sergeant there who had a spinal cord injury that was not a severed spinal cord and had been in bed for 18 months,” said Messier. “All they had been able to do is stand him for very short periods of time and after using this equipment he walked out of Walter Reed 12 months later.” It was a happy ending for one soldier, but many more are still waiting. The trio left Avon, Connecticut on June 14th. They are scheduled to arrive in San Francisco, California on August 21st. They will be at El Dorado Lake through the weekend for the Veterans Family Reunion. For more information about their trip or to donate to the cause click on Weblinks. Ken is also giving donated pearl necklaces to the wives and widows of American soldiers he meets along the way.
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