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Alex & Pediatric Diaphragm Pacing How an unusual child reached an emerging technology—and what the story teaches us about individualized systems And the timeline would begin before 2009: 2004 — catastrophic cervicomedullary/high-cervical injury plus diffuse traumatic brain injury. 2005 — another Logan County SCI family discovers Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) Afterward — Beth calls KKI; Jodi Luttrell recognizes respiratory support as a potential barrier to rehabilitation and directs her to Onders’ diaphragm-pacing team. Following years — ongoing communication with Mary Jo Elmo and the Onders team while pediatric implantation is being pursued. 2007 — Onders and colleagues publish work explicitly discussing the development of protocols that could permit diaphragm pacing in people younger than 18. Sometime during this period I received a phone call from Mary Jo Elmo that Dr. Onders was ready to implant a child and Alex was at the top of the list!…Woohoo!...
