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Once paralyzed, man regains walking ability
A local man is learning to walk again after a spinal cord injury left him paralyzed out of the blue.
NOVI, Mich. (FOX 2) - Jake Heckmann was an active guy with skydiving and rock climbing.
Then one day in 2023 his back hurt - and he started feeling numb.
The backstory:
"So I asked my wife and she’s like, 'Go to the emergency room now,'" he said. "Even by the time I got there, because I drove myself, my legs were mostly still functioning. One of my legs was pretty much gone, I fell in the parking lot trying to get in, a leg stopped working."
Jake was paralyzed from the waist down. What happened?
"They’re not really sure," he said. "They call it a cryptic hemorrhage meaning (my) spinal cord hemorrhaged and bled for no reason. They see it as less than one in a million and they don’t really know what causes them. I just won that lottery."
It turns out he won another lottery, too, a much happier one when he met BettyJane Blossfield - a physical therapist with Detroit Medical Center for over 40 years.
Together — they made progress. It wasn't step-by-step — but inch by inch. With a spinal cord injury — it was unclear how much Jake could recover.
"It was frustrating in the beginning, but as things started waking up again I was like, ‘Ok there’s something there.’"
Two and a half years since jake lost feeling in his legs — and more than half a year since he’s seen BettyJane - he's back to say thank you.
"Oh my gosh. You look fantastic," she said.
"Thank you," he said.
"Holy cow, look at you," she said.
"It’s just crazy to think when I got here there was nothing," Jake said. "There was zero movement, zero function. I would lie there and get like an inch of movement."
"He looks even better," said BettyJane. "He’s still continuing to improve and it just warmed my heart to see him walking without any device."
Even after physical therapy — Jake continues working on his recovery.
He says walking long distance is still a challenge — one he’s rising to face.
"I’m using walking sticks just for mobility," he said. "I did a little bit over two and a half miles a couple weeks ago. So almost there, just another half a mile to go.
FOX 2: "Especially doing it out in the snow."
"I wanted to get it done before the snow," he said. "The first one might be on a treadmill, we’ll see."
Jake’s journey will continue.
The Source: Sources for this report are Jake Heckmann and his former therapist BettyJane Blossfield.