 History has filled with the counts of the impossible made possible through human endeavor Why can't that same human endeavor cure paralysis in our lifetime? Somebody once said that truly cutting-edge technology is undistinguishable from magic These are real things that are happening What we see is This is just the beginning. I went blind at the age of 22 And then I had an accident and I broke my back adding paralysis to the blindness I wasn't only physically shattered But I'd also was really trying to make sense of how I should respond to this total uncertainty I met Mark at Oxford study model for YGLs He presented his challenge with this company, which he said look this is probably my best chance I will ever walk again. And so he asked us, can you YGLs help me? And I think this is where the druids come in. So the druid collective tries to identify these kind of people doing amazing very impactful and very technologically difficult solutions and Complement their skills with how to make a sustainable how to find the right market to find the shortest path to the impact the pieces that I think a number of can do is YGLs as they try and really connect innovators from Non-traditional geographies with Investors like myself and to try and really help them develop their tech Martin picked up the phone made the connections and We found a group of computer scientists and robotics engineers in San Francisco building robots exoskeletons And separately we met Professor Reggie Edgerton What struck us was that these two brilliant sets of researchers were working in isolation We have been working along that direction in parallel for quite some time, but we hadn't really made any contact Making those connections Seemed to be where we could fit in and contribute to this field So we created our first collaboration using electrical stimulation and exobionics robotic legs Our idea was we would like to take the technology in the exoskeleton with the biology that we know and the Technology we have and to see to what extent can mark become independent of the robotic device for three months I walked in the robot as I did more the robot did less the muscles in my legs Which had almost entirely disappeared started to come back We were very skeptical because he has a very complicated injury But when we turn the stimulator on and ask him to move the leg He flexed his knee and his whole leg came up Go go go! Good, good, go! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, go on Mark, go on, go go go go! It was so... While I was lying flat out, just trying to survive It was Simon who started what has turned into a journey to explore the intersection where humans and technology collide We think electrical stimulation of the spinal cord is the first meaningful therapy ever for paralysed people Delighted to be in here speaking to you because I normally speak to young global leaders about you. I've been talking to them for the last six years all around the world about what you're doing. Under the umbrella of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, our research happens to fit squarely within that. Engaging with YGLs allows for very real, tangible support for some of the projects that we're involved in. It is in this community that you combine the skills of such a diverse group for a focused impact. I can see continuing improvement for years to come. A lot can happen. The answers are already somewhere out there. We just need to find these people and we need to enable them. It's just been an incredible collaborative experience right along the way.