FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 For 21 years, Marrianne Rooprai longed for the day she could walk outside along the beach with other people. A car crash left her paralyzed from the shoulders down, a diagnosis she initially refused to accept.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it was absolutely the most devastating news ever to hear, that doctors tell you you\u2019ll never be able to walk again,\u201d Rooprai said.<\/p>\n
The British native came to South Florida to work with physical therapist Guy Romain at Neurofit 360. After years of rehabilitation and training, Rooprai achieved a milestone she once thought impossible: walking with the aid of an advanced AI-powered exoskeleton.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe makes me feel safe. He makes me push myself in ways I didn\u2019t know I could,\u201d Rooprai said of Romain.<\/p>\n
Rooprai spent seven months in the hospital after her 2004 accident, building strength and determination before using the exoskeleton. Walking on a treadmill with the suit, she felt the payoff of years of hard work and perseverance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d be lying if I said I didn\u2019t have any dark days because obviously, I do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Throughout her recovery, Rooprai\u2019s partner Andy provided unwavering support. He admitted that the injury was difficult for him to process but said sharing the journey helped strengthen their relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t want to show that because obviously, it\u2019s completely different than what Marrianne\u2019s going through. But I think it is important to share it and bounce off each other,\u201d Andy said.<\/p>\n
On a sunny day in Fort Lauderdale, Rooprai took her first steps along the beach with the exoskeleton, greeted by cheers from onlookers.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be able to walk down Fort Lauderdale beach with an exoskeleton, it was unbelievable. The sun was shining, the beach was there and I\u2019ve got to say, the people were so pumped up. They were amazing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Beyond her own recovery, Rooprai and Andy founded the Rooprai Spinal Trust, a charity aimed at helping others cope with spinal injuries.<\/p>\n
More information on the charity<\/a> and Neurofit 360.<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 For 21 years, Marrianne Rooprai longed for the day she could walk outside along…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":{"0":"post-173440","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-lauderdale","8":"tag-fort-lauderdale","9":"tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","10":"tag-fort-lauderdale-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}