Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals

Ability Drive gives stroke survivor a taste of independence

November 25, 2020

Imagine a world where you can only communicate with eye blinks. It’s reality for Tom Larsen who survived a debilitating stroke in 2017 and struggles with locked-in syndrome, a rare condition that stole his mobility and communication, but left his creative mind intact.

Tom is a husband, a father of two teenagers and has 30 years of experience as an IT professional. Due to the complexity of his needs, the Norfolk, Nebraska native resides on the ventilator special needs unit at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals Lincoln Campus.

Tom recently trialed Ability Drive, new eye-tracking technology that allows him to control his power wheelchair. The system combines proprietary software, a modified tablet computer and an eye tracking camera. The user focuses on a graphic to move the chair directionally.

On first attempt, Tom navigated his wheelchair 600 feet down the hallway amid cheers of fellow patients and staff. Tom summed up the emotional experience in one word he carefully spelled out on his whiteboard: f-r-e-e-d-o-m.

Losing his independence isn’t a first for Tom. When he was a freshman in high school, Tom battled back from paralysis after his immune system was damaged by Guillain-Barre syndrome.

He’s a fighter and survivor whose mind is already thinking of ways to perfect the Ability Drive.

Kristi Rocole, a physical therapist and seating and positioning specialist, who first observed Ability Drive at a seminar and was instrumental in securing Madonna as a test site. The new technology, combined with a power wheelchair, brings a level of independence to the most complex patient. In the words of Tom, both the technology and the staff at Madonna are a-m-a-z-i-n-g – an adjective that also describes this resilient man.

See coverage of Tom’s story from KETV, click here.