On this fascinating episode of PUSHLiving Podcast, we had the chance to speak with an inspiring young man that has turned his tragedy into hope for others through his business ReneGait. Daniel Campbell is the Founder and CEO of ReneGait (a company that develops activity-based therapy tools), as well as the inventor of their most prominent product for spinal cord injuries, the Spartan mechanical gait trainer.
In 2012, at the age of 20, Daniel was a fitness enthusiast and English major at Augustana College in Illinois, when he became paralyzed (C6-7 complete) in an accident at his fraternity.
After his injury he took a three year break from school and while recovering, he came to terms with his new life, read a massive amount, and became inspired by writers like Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov. When it was time to go back to school, he decided to change his course of study to engineering, and finished his Bachelors of Science and Engineering degree at Arizona State University in 2018.
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In this in-depth discussion, Daniel shares his story and explains:
- How he was injured that fateful night in 2012
- What influenced his change of course of study from English to Engineering
- His thoughts on rehab and recovery, and what the real expectations should be.
- The importance of mindset in overcoming the challenges of spinal cord injury
- How he used The Human Refuge concept to utilize the skills and abilities he still had
- Why his pre-injury disciplined lifestyle was extremely useful post-injury during his difficult recovery
- The methods he uses to get himself out of those inevitable periods of sadness and depression
- The game-changing supplement he uses to offset his blood pressure issues caused by his injury
- Why he favors intensity and resistance training over cardio in his workout regimen
- How forced use techniques are beneficial to people with spinal cord injuries
- The science behind gait training and how it’s been proven to work
- Why he founded ReneGait, and created the Spartan mechanical gait trainer
- How he evolved the product from a crude prototype in his garage, to an actual product that could be distributed to customers
- His advice on how someone with an idea for a product/service can bring it to fruition
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Entrepreneurs with Disabilities United