EditorialHeather Rendulic, who had a stroke at age 23, disabling her left arm and hand and making tasks like tying shoes impossible, in Pittsburgh, Feb. 17, 2023. (Kristian Thacker/The New York Times)
EditorialSuhellen Oliveira Da Silva, whose children both have the rare genetic disorder spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), holds 2-year-old Levi while a nurse tends to her older son Lorenzo, 10, in a bedroom at their home on the outskirts of Recife, Brazil, June, 4, 2022. (Dado Galdieri/The New York Times)
EditorialPorche Powell, who was a certified nursing assistant until she was shot, in Rochester, N.Y., Aug. 31, 2022. Powell is now an unofficial leader of a support group for people with spinal-cord injuries. (Lauren Petracca/The New York)
EditorialCheryl Romaire, who suffers from a painful and worsening spinal cord condition, intends to end her life, at her apartment in Calgary, Alberta, Aug. 22, 2022. (Ian Austen/The New York Times)
EditorialIncheon 21st Century Hospital, a spinal clinic at the center of a “ghost surgery” scandal last year, in Incheon, South Korea, near Seoul, May 5, 2022. (Chang W. Lee/The New York Times)
EditorialIncheon 21st Century Hospital, a spinal clinic at the center of a “ghost surgery” scandal last year, in Incheon, South Korea, near Seoul, May 5, 2022. (Chang W. Lee/The New York Times)
EditorialKhyati Nagumantri, who has Type 1 spinal muscular atrophy, is fed through a tube with the assistance of her mother at home in Bangalore, India, on Feb. 16, 2022. (Sara Hylton/The New York Times)
EditorialPresident Joe Biden, left, looks on as military veteran John Caruso demonstrates the use of an exoskeleton designed to help people with spinal cord injuries during a visit to the Forth Worth Veterans Affairs clinic in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
EditorialOfficers in Fresno, Calif., hold a handcuffed Joseph Perez facedown and placed a spinal board on his back as he cried out. (Fresno Police Department via The New York Times)
EditorialAlene Shaheed in her rooms at Madison Manor, adult assisted living community Jacksonville, Fla., Oct.28, 2021. (Agnes Lopez/The New York Times)
EditorialIgnazio D’Andrea and his wife, Giovanna Impalà, in front of their home in Messina, Italy, on Sept. 8, 2021. (Gianni Cipriano/The New York Times)
EditorialChloe Mead and Andy Maskin tend to their seven-year-old son, Henry, who lives with a rare condition called spinal muscular atrophy that requires 24-hour medical care, at their home in Queens on May 9, 2021. (Brittainy Newman/The New York Times)
EditorialCarrie Johnson recuperates at Brookdale Richmond Place in Lexington, Ky., on Jan. 25, 2021, after spinal fusion surgery. (Jessica Ebelhar/The New York Times)
EditorialKevin Babington an Irish Olympian show jumper, who injured his spinal cord in a show jumping accident, gets help from his his daughter Marielle with a listening device as he is gives a lesson at their home in Loxahatchee, Fla., last year on Jan. 30, 2020. (Saul Martinez/The New York Times)
EditorialKevin Babington conducts a horse riding lesson by speaking to his students through wireless headsets from his back porch in Loxahatchee, Fla., Jan. 31, 2020. (Saul Martinez/The New York Times)