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Robotic device helps paralyzed groom walk aisle

Jordan Basile, left, and Matt Ficarra, center, exchange wedding vows Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, at the Doubletree hotel in Syracuse, N.Y. Presiding over the ceremony is Ted Limpert. Ficarra, who was paralyzed in an accident in 2011, used a robotic-like device called an Ekso with the help of Nicole Smith, second right, and Frank Hyland from Good Shepard in Allenton Pa. (AP Photo/The Syracuse Newspapers, Dennis Nett) NO SALES Jordan Basile, left, and Matt Ficarra, center, exchange wedding vows Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, at the Doubletree hotel in Syracuse, N.Y. Presiding over the ceremony is Ted Limpert. Ficarra, who was paralyzed in an accident in 2011, used a robotic-like device called an Ekso with the help of Nicole Smith, second right, and Frank Hyland from Good Shepard in Allenton Pa. (AP Photo/The Syracuse Newspapers, Dennis Nett) NO SALES

By Associated Press October 19, 2014 1 min read

DEWITT, N.Y. (AP) – Matt Ficarra has been paralyzed from the chest down since an accident three years ago, but that didn’t stop him from walking down the aisle.

Ficarra was able to stand and walk during the wedding ceremony in suburban Syracuse Saturday with the help of a battery-powered robotic exoskeleton called an Ekso. He tells the Syracuse Post-Standard (http://bit.ly/1yNLcr6 ) he’s been driving to a rehabilitation center in Allentown, Pennsylvania weekly since April to practice walking with the apparatus.

Ficarra has been paralyzed since he broke his neck in a boating accident in 2011. He married Jordan Basile Saturday in the ballroom of the Doubletree Hotel in DeWitt.

The couple leaves Monday for a honeymoon in Jamaica.