‘A WORK IN PROGRESS’: BRONCOS PLAYER CONTINUES REHAB

At first glance it appears Ryan Straschnitzki, the former Humboldt Broncos hockey player paralyzed from the chest down two years ago in a Saskatchewan bus crash, is paying close attention to a black smartphone in his hand. But it’s actually a remote controller for the epidural stimulator he had implanted during spinal surgery in Thailand last fall. The device sends electrical currents to his spinal cord to stimulate nerves and move limbs. On the urging of his physiotherapy team Straschnitzki can kick out his legs — first the left and then the right. He has had a lot of time to practise with the device while confined to his home in Airdrie, north of Calgary, during the COVID-19 lockdown. “It’s still a work in progress, but it’s getting better than it was,” Straschnitzki says.