Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Paralyzed Irish Girl Walks Again, Thanks in Part to Wii Fit


Since a virus struck her at the age of six, ten-year-old Nicole Cahill, of Enniscorthy, Ireland, has lived with paralysis, incapable of taking so much as one step. But, thanks to medical treatment and a new Nintendo Wii Fit, Nicole has begun to walk again, reports the Belfast Telegraph.

This past December, returning to Ireland from a New York hospital where she took her first steps in four long years, Nicole -- like any number of kids -- was excited to discover a Wii Fit on Christmas morning.

What's your favorite video game console?
Nintendo Wii6382 (52.0%)
Xbox 3602867 (23.4%)
PlayStation 32150 (17.5%)
I'm not sure874 (7.1%)


The game system (aided of course by proper physical therapy) is helping Nicole to get fully back on her feet, her mother told the Telegraph. "The Wii Fit has really helped," Mairead Cahill explained. "It's great because there are so many balancing and stretching exercises on it."


Doctors and family, ecstatic at her progress, hope to see young Nicole throw away her walker and take strides on her own by the end of the year. Having nearly killed dogs, and successfully killed TVs, the Wii's karma points just went way up. [From: The Belfast Telegraph]

Wiimote Disasters (Wiinjuries?)

    This poor soul had the misfortune of approaching her inebriated boyfriend while he battled a Zelda beast. Even with that smile on her face, and that relatively convincing story, we're still wanting to look up the hotline number.

    This overly zealous 'Wii Baseball' player was shocked to find his bat controller slam into his Plasma TV. Try backing up in that batter's box there, slugger.

    Mere hours after purchasing the system, one hapless Wii owner watched as his friend, aiming to deliver a strike in 'Wii Bowling', lost his grasp on the Wiimote and destroyed a 60-inch TV. And as for the brand new wrist strap? It broke. Nintendo had better get the bill for this one.

    'Wii Bowling' + Adrenaline + Low Ceilings + Ceiling Fan = Bad News

    This guy reached to snatch his cat off a restricted couch, but -- forgetting to remove his Wiimote -- clobbered the poor critter on the leg. Now, $512 worth of veterinary bills later, we imagine ol' boy will be a little more careful next time.

    As ugly as the damage Wiimotes do to rear projection TV's is, we haven't seen anything like this Wii-destroyed LCD TV. The culprit? You guessed it. A broken wrist strap.

    Deep in a game of 'Wii Tennis,' one Wii rookie let loose a fierce volley and -- the wrist strap breaking -- took a considerable chunk out of this door. Fortunately for this guy, a container of Bondo is a lot cheaper than a television set.

    On Christmas morning, the kids in this Wisconsin household were overjoyed to find a new Wii system under the tree. After hooking it up to their recently purchased 70-inch RP TV, they let the good times roll. Roll right into the screen, apparently, thanks to a broken wrist strap. Television Deaths by Defective Straps (TDDS): 2.

    Since the wrist strap of this majestic Wii spear is conspicuous in its absence, we're tempted to give this picture a TDDS rating. But, since this tube TV is resilient and still, apparently, functioning, we'll just give it a half-credit.

    As he explained to WiiHaveAProblem.com, this Danish guy smacked into a light fixture while playing 'Wii Tennis' with, in his words, "great empathy and excitement." Forget broken fingers; empathizing with video games points to more severe problems.

Tags: health, medical, nintendo, nintendo wii, NintendoWii, physical therapy, PhysicalTherapy, top, wii, wii fit, WiiFit

Comments

5