Marion Man Breathing Easier

[Max]

Marion Man Breathing Easier
Wednesday, July 28, 2004, 8:20:05 PM


By KCRG-TV9 News Reporter Angie Hunt - TV9 Cedar Rapids Newsroom

An experimental procedure has made it possible for a Marion man to breathe on his own again. Dave Evans had to rely on a ventilator after a bicycle accident caused a severe spinal cord injury in 1998. Evans went through the same surgery as actor Christopher reeves. And it's really changed the way Evans lives.

It's a lot easier for Dave Evans to get around now that he's not dependent on a bunch of tubes to get air into his lungs. "Now I have the ventilator and this thing is so much easier to deal with than the vent."

A box sends an electrical impulse to his diaphragm, making it possible for him to breathe on his own. It's also a lot smaller than his ventilator. "It's just so much better, I feel so much better."

http://www.kcrg.com/article.aspx?art...324&cat_id=123