JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Chris Wolff always dreamed of serving his country.
“I joined the military back in 2001, right after September 11th, 30 days after September 11th, from California,” Wolff said. “I did it all off. Six tours. Three to Iraq, three to Afghanistan.”
But in October 2008, one trip to a military doctor in Washington state changed everything.
“I had deployed to Afghanistan for my last duty assignment, and came back and was administered a flu vaccine. And 19 days later, after receiving that vaccine, I woke up paralyzed from the neck down,” Wolff said.
He said it was shocking.
“Especially when you’re 25 years old and ran two miles the day before,” Wolff said.
Chris was put into a medically induced coma for 33 days to stop the virus from spreading to his brain. He entered one hospital in November and woke up in a different one on Christmas Eve.
“The first person I saw was a doctor who was in a wheelchair. And his prognosis for me was I would never breathe, eat, walk or do anything on my own again,” Wolff said.
For the next two and a half years, Chris laid in a hospital bed unable to move his body. He became depressed and contemplated suicide.
“I could bleed out, and I wouldn’t be a burden to anybody the rest of my life,” Wolff said.
Then one day, something remarkable happened.
“I lifted my left hand a quarter inch off the bed,” Wolff said. “And I knew from that point on I was going to do more than what the doctor said I was going to be.”
Chris began pushing himself. Through assisted weight training and physical therapy, Chris eventually regained movement in both of his arms and became strong enough to use a wheelchair.
In 2010, he was discharged from the hospital, still paralyzed from the waist down.
Chris eventually found the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit providing free services to post-9/11 veterans, active-duty service members, and their families.
They introduced him to adaptive sports, where he joined a team.
In 2017, Chris and his team went to the Wheelchair Games at the VA in Dallas, Texas. While there, he saw something he didn’t know was possible.
“There was a booth with an Exoskeleton, and it was showing veterans walking that were paralyzed at one point,” Wolff said. “It was encouraging.”
For several years, Chris tried to get himself into the VA’s “Robotic Exoskeleton Program”, which provides eligible veterans with a robotic exoskeleton that helps them walk. Finally, in 2023, after Chris had moved to Jacksonville, he entered the program at the Tampa VA.
“It gives veterans an opportunity to stand and talk to people eye to eye, face to face, with friends, with family,” said Dr. Kevin White, Chief of Spinal Cord Injury & Disorders at the James A. Haley VA in Tampa, Florida.
Dr. White and Dr. Cassandra Hogan, Doctor of Physical Therapy, both work at the Tampa VA’s Robotics and Advanced Technology Center. It’s the country’s first center dedicated to the trial and training of home-use exoskeletons for veterans. The clinic offers two devices: the ReWalk and the Indigo.
“Both devices, the Indigo and the ReWalk have a two-step command system,” Dr. Hogan said. “So one, you press a crutch controller button to tell it what you want it to do, but you also have to get into a proper position.”
Chris had 29 training sessions in the ReWalk device before his 6-week home trial. He passed with flying colors, and now Chris is back up on his feet again.
I asked him what his message is to anyone hearing his story.
“I just want you guys to know there are programs out there to help you push your limitations and to do more in life than what the doctor says you’re able to do,” said Wolff.
Chris is now preparing for his next big challenge. He’s participating in the Wounded Warrior Project’s “Soldier Ride 250”, where he will be joining other warriors, cycling from Jacksonville up to New York to honor our nation’s 250th birthday.
Chris is doing the first leg of the journey, and he will be riding a hand cycle for roughly 32 miles a day for four days until he gets to Charleston, South Carolina. They are set to depart from Jacksonville on May 14th.
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