(WNDU) - For the past decade, researchers have studied the impact of epidural stimulation, a small amount of electrical current applied to the spine, on people with spinal cord injuries.

It’s technology that has only gotten better over the past few years, and now some patients are achieving what most believed would never be possible.

One man, in particular, is celebrating his personal victory over paralysis one milestone at a time.

Jerod Nieder remembers the exact moment his life changed forever. December 18, 2011. On vacation with his family in Mexico.

“It was the first day of the trip and I went running down the beach to dive into the ocean and dove right into the sandbar,” Jerod recalls.

However, the damage to his spinal cord was done.

“The doctors told my family I would never feed myself and, you know, kind of just prepare for this to be the rest of my life,” he continues.

Jerod refused to accept that. He and his mom began searching for cutting-edge rehabilitation. They would find it at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center. Here, scientists use programmed electrical stimulation to help patients stand and control their core. Jerod is one of 38 patients with a stimulator inside his body.

“The electrode is a 16 electrode array, so it contains 16 contacts, and it is implanted in what’s called the lumbar sacral spinal cord,” said Claudia Angeli, the Director of the Epidural Stimulation Program at the University of Louisville.

It was that determination and positivity that caught Hanna Alcock’s eye.

“My friend told me that a guy named Jerod who was in a wheelchair, was very social, but never got out of his apartment and just needed some help on Saturdays,” Hanna said. “I was like, well, I think I can do that.”

It didn’t take long before Saturdays became special, for both.

“I thought it turned into something else before Hanna realized it turned into something else,” said Jerod.

Jerod proposed and Hanna said yes.

On November 6th, Jerod took off. Despite crashing his hand cycle at mile 13, Jerod finished, with his bike stuck in first gear. Jerod and Hanna had one more milestone to reach. Hanna suggested they marry on the 10 year anniversary of Jerod’s accident.

“It’s a day that a lot got taken from me and to have Hanna come into my life and help me take charge of that is just, it means a lot to me,” Jerod said.

Jerod worked for months in the lab to surprise his family and friends.

“We’re having a traditional Korean part of the ceremony. And that is where I’m supposed to bow to her parents,” he said.

On December 18, the man who doctors predicted would never use his arms or legs, bowed, all the way down, three times, with support from his lab assistants. He vows, he’s not done yet.

“The list of things that I’m able to do gets longer and the things that I’m not able to do gets shorter,” Jerod finally said.

By running in the NYC Marathon as part of Team Reeve, Jerod and Hanna have raised over $20,000 together for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

The Reeve Foundation funds the epidural stimulation trial at the University of Louisville Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center.

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