"MIAMI - I am watching a man paralyzed from the neck down lift an artificial arm by merely thinking about do so. I am watching another quadriplegic play drums thanks to similar microchip in his brain. I am listening to doctors talk of hypothermia protocol, brain-computer interface and how artificial intelligence will help change the wheelchair world. "What do you think?" a scientist asks. "This is the greatest sports story of my lifetime," I say."
"Forty years ago Sunday, Marc Buoniconti made a tackle as a Citadel linebacker took the final step of his life on the 42-yard line of the East Tennessee State football field. He has said, many times through the years, how he saw his arm flop beside him on the field and couldn't feel it. He has said, many times, how he immediately knew he was paralyzed."
""I call it a celebration," he said before the 15th anniversary. "I celebrate I'm alive. I celebrate the culmination of what we've been able to accomplish and celebrate what we'll accomplish in the next year. I'm not bitter about what happened. I'm enthusiastic and optimistic for the future." He paused, then said, "I think that's how I stay sane.""
A man paralyzed from the neck down lifted an artificial arm by thinking, and another quadriplegic played drums using a brain microchip. Doctors discussed hypothermia protocols, brain-computer interfaces, and artificial intelligence applications poised to change wheelchair technology. A scientist solicited reactions and one attendee called the developments the greatest sports story of his lifetime. Dalton Dietrich observed people in wheelchairs conversing with doctors and highlighted decades of progress since a career-ending injury. Marc Buoniconti suffered paralysis after a football tackle forty years earlier and repeatedly described sensing his arm flop and immediately knowing he was paralyzed. Buoniconti framed the anniversary as a celebration of survival, accomplishments, and future optimism.
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