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He's been confined to a wheelchair for 20 years. Now a paraplegic man is walking again. And his doctors call it a miracle. CBS13 went to Manteca to find out how a spider bite helped get him back on his feet. "I closed my eyes and then I was spinning like a flying saucer," explains David Blancarte. A motorcycle accident almost killed David 21 years ago. At the time he might have wished he was dead. "I asked my doctor, "sir what happened?' I can't feel my legs," said David. Ever since, David's been relying on his wheelchair to get...

SAN BERNARDINO – A paraplegic who repeatedly filed claims and lawsuits for noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act was a con artist without any physical limitations, authorities said. After her arrest this month by Las Vegas police, Laura Lee Medley, 35, of Alhambra leaped from her wheelchair and ran for freedom, officials said. Complaining earlier that she was having medical problems, police took the woman to a Las Vegas hospital for treatment, said David Wert, spokesman for San Bernardino County. “That's where the great miracle occurred,” he said. Medley “made a break for it,” leading police on a brief...

SNOWMASS, Colo., April 6, 2006 – Michael Brickert is a man of three services, three conflicts, two paralyzed legs, and one can-do spirit that's inspired other disabled veterans. Michael Brickert, a retired Air National Guard first sergeant, soars down the slopes during the 20th National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, at Snowmass, Colo. Photo by Robert Turtil  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Brickert, 58, of Wise River, Mont., was a Navy diver during the Vietnam War. During Operation Desert Storm, he went from being an Army Reserve drill sergeant to pulling personal security detail. During Operation Enduring Freedom,...

Today, Richard Paey sits in a wheelchair behind high walls and razor wire in a high-security prison near Daytona Beach. Paey is a 46-year-old father of three, and a paraplegic. His condition is the result of a car accident, a botched back surgery, and a case of multiple sclerosis — three setbacks that have left him in a chronic, debilitating state of pain. After moving to Florida from New Jersey, Paey found it increasingly difficult to get prescriptions for the pain medication he needed to function normally — to support his family, and to be a parent to his children....

Paraplegic breakthrough using adult stem cells Apparent major breakthrough with patient paralyzed 19 years Posted: September 28, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com In an apparent major breakthrough, scientists in Korea report using umbilical cord blood stem cells to restore feeling and mobility to a spinal-cord injury patient. The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cythotherapy, centered on a woman who had been a paraplegic 19 years due to an accident. After an infusion of umbilical cord blood stem cells, stunning results were recorded: "The patient could move her hips and feel her hip skin on day 15 after...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A paraplegic state employee who was laid off and forced to give up his government-owned wheelchair will get his job - and wheelchair - back, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Friday. The Department of Natural Resources said it would comply with the governor's order to rehire mechanic Arthur "Red" Burchyett, who has repaired equipment at a wildlife refuge near Jonesboro for 24 years. He was among about 120 workers laid off since October due to budget cuts. Reacting to news accounts about the man's plight, Blagojevich said the state needs to balance common-sense fiscal decisions with compassion....

One day at a time Relying on others part of paraplegic's daily struggle By JOHN DAVIS AVALANCHE-JOURNAL His world has shrunken from the oil fields of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico, to the size of the two-bedroom house in which he lives. Nearly a year after a car accident rendered 25-year-old Robert Armstrong paralyzed, he said his perspective and goals have changed greatly. Once content to do dangerous work as a roughneck in the oil business, now his main goal is to get out of his electric wheelchair — maybe even walk — one day. Even if the bills...