Stop in Naples for Alice, who walks thanks to the exoskeleton
history
twelve o’clock, November 19, 2021 – 07:55 am
Special visit to the Royal Palace. Stop in town to promote research
from Walter Medolla
Alice began to take its first steps at 19. A complication during childbirth forced her not to be able to articulate her legs independently. A spastic diparesis that – until she met a person on her way who gave her an exoskeleton – did not allow her to live a life like all her peers. It is thanks to the donation of an external structure that the young woman, born in Udine but resident in Ferrara, has started to live again.Now Alice turns the boot and walks in the squares and streets of Italy to promote research and give her testimony to everyone. Yesterday it was the turn of Naples and the city welcomed it in its symbolic square, at the Plebiscite. The councilor Luca Trapanese, delegated by the mayor Gaetano Manfredi and on behalf of the entire municipal council, met Alice and her family. An unforgettable day and experience, also thanks to the support of the local police who guaranteed access to the square and to the Archeology Superintendency which hosted it in the Royal Palace for a guided tour. I am happy – said the councilor for hospitality Luca Trapanese – because Naples must become more and more an expression of welcome and accessibility. Today Alice has provided us that everything is possible. He knew with his presence that we must always believe in it. I dream and, I appeal to those who seek us, to be able to buy an exoskeleton to be made available to disabled people in our city. It would be fantastic to offer this opportunity to the many young and old who are forced to be enticed; offer him the opportunity to take a walk along our seafront, perhaps by identifying dedicated and protected paths. It seems a trivial thing, but instead of an importance for someone forced to be immobile in a bed.
The exoskeleton is a machine used by the US military for the physical strengthening of soldiers in Afghanistan carrying heavy weapons. It was then used to allow enticed people to walk – continued the commissioner -. The structure has a cost of around 200 thousand euros, a figure that could be covered by one or more donations. I really make an appeal to local companies and foundations to make this great dream possible. The exoskeleton could be entrusted to the University Hospital of the city and made available to citizens in particular situations of disability.
Thanks to this sort of external structure, Alice is now able to walk over 3,000 steps a day, an extraordinary milestone if you look back just a few years ago. We reached a peak of 3,900 steps in one session – explains Mirko Leccioli, Alice’s father – yesterday’s experience in Naples was really very beautiful, Alice was very happy. After a short stop at the Gambrinus café, then an afternoon in the shadow of Vesuvius for Alice and her family. Perhaps the next stop on our tour could be Bologna – concludes Leccioli – but for now we are still enjoying your beautiful and welcoming city.
November 19 2021 | 07:55
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