FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Retired Marine Corp. Veteran Danial Payne loves strumming on his acoustic guitar.

A hobby he has picked up again after severe shaking put a pause on his playing.

The shaking hidden behind his other passion, serving Valley veterans

Payne known as the ‘Voice of the Veterans Parade” for nearly two decades.

The onset of symptoms came about a dozen years ago when the convulsing was growing increasingly worse.

He noticed the troubling trembling during a dinner party.

“I got a fork full of peas and I’m bringing it to my lips and they’re going everywhere,” said Payne.

Payne immediately confided in his doctor at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Fresno.

“Of course, I was concerned that it was going to be Parkinson’s,” said Payne.

Instead, his doctor diagnosed him in 2020 with Essential Tremor or ET, a neurological condition that affects over 7 million patients in the country. The treatment is a wearable non-invasive device called the Cala kIQ System.

“It actually measures patient’s tremors using motion sensors on board the device, and then delivers stimulation to the median and radial nerves at the patient’s wrist in order to send the signal to the brain that actually interrupts the tremor and provides them relief,” said Dr. Kate Rosenbluth, the President and Founder of Cala Health.

The 71-year-old quickly saw a dramatic improvement to his tremors after using the wrist-worn therapy, which is designed to replicate a timepiece, for the past year.

Payne credits Mary, his wife of nearly 50 years — for walking with him down the road of recovery.

This Valentine’s Day, for the first time in a long time, Payne will be able to enjoy a comfortable dinner with Mary without the stress of shaking. The simple gesture he’s looking forward to most is…

“Just the fact that I could reach across the table and hold her hand,” Payne emotionally said. “That was simple. Couldn’t do it.”

Payne’s message for other veterans shaking while suffering in silence is one of encouragement.

“Try this device, see if it works for you like it did for me and get your life back,” said Payne.

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