Daily Archives: October 14, 2015

New software sifts through the information gathered in long forgotten studies and finds new avenues for researchers to pursue—like a new advance in treating spinal injuries. Doctors have just discovered a previously unknown relationship between the long-term recovery of spinal cord injury victims and high blood pressure during their initial surgeries. This may seem like a small bit of medical news—though it will have immediate clinical implications—but what's important is how it was discovered in the first place.

As Robert Thompkins climbed to the top of Green Valley Falls in September 2005, he had no idea that in a few short moments he would never walk again. He made the decision to jump off a cliff into the water below, never knowing how incredibly shallow it was. As he hit the rocks beneath the surface, he severed his spinal cord from the T12 to the L3 vertebrae. He was 25.