Loading Innovation Corporate Citizenship Investors Careers Newsroom Patients Healthcare Professionals About Us Home About Us Our Mission Company Profile Businesses Our Mission Core Technologies Corporate Responsibility Print Page E-mail Page A A A Text Size Tweet Lives Improved by Medical Technology Kobi Back Fractures Kobi not only walked again, he surfed I wondered if I would walk again. Kobi grew up on the beach and in the water. He was working as lifeguard on Australia’s famed Bondi Beach and as a professional surfer when his life took a sudden unexpected turn. While surfing one of Australia’s most treacherous areas, Kobi crashed headfirst into a shallow rock shelf. “I knew I was in trouble,” he remembers of that day. “I was like, Oh, I’m not going to be good here. I couldn’t swim too well and I had just managed to come up and then the wave hit me again. All I was thinking was just praying that I had movement.” Medical tests revealed damage to his cervical vertebrae. “I wondered if I would ever walk out of the hospital,” Kobi says. After debating various options, the surgical team decided to implant a titanium device to stabilize the cervical spine. “Within days, I was walking around the hospital ward, and I went home one week later,” Kobi recalled. To the amazement of his medical team and his peers, Kobi was back to surfing in four months. “I was very grateful just to be walking, let alone going for a paddle,” he says. “So, it was pretty exciting.” Learn more about back fractures. The patient testimonial above relates an account of an individual’s response to treatment. The account is genuine, typical and documented. However, this patient’s response does not provide any indication, guide, warranty or guarantee as to the response other people may have to the treatment. The response other individuals have to the treatment could be different. Responses to the treatment can and do vary. Not every response is the same. Last updated: 1 May 2014 Our Mission Every 3 Seconds Other Personal Experiences Sharon Mastectomy Jim Unexplained Fainting George Diabetes Bruce Sudden Cardiac Arrest Kelly Bowel Incontinence © 2014 Medtronic, Inc. Privacy Statement Terms of Use Contact Us Site Map UNITED STATES