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Billy Joel & Stevie Nicks floor seat tickets

Anthony Carbajal, who is battling ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) throws out the ceremonial first pitch with the help of a pitching machine prior to a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets Thursday, June 2, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

It was a summer day in 2012 when Bob Richey’s life was changed forever. He was a new college grad, having fun with friends at the beach. Like he’d done so many times before, Richey dove into the surf — but this time, something was off. He broke two vertebrae in his neck and ended up paralyzed from the chest down.

Since then, he’s been using a power wheelchair, which allows him to get around, work as a software engineer, even drive a custom van.

When medical equipment is an absolute necessity — the only way someone can keep going, literally and figuratively — it takes on an outsized role. It must fit right and work right, be accessible and affordable — or the consequences can be grave.

On this episode, we look at the medical gear that’s changing — and even saving — lives. We hear stories about how the ice bucket challenge changed life for people with ALS, the growing role prosthetists are playing in patients’ lives, and the medical device that alerted the bomb squad at the airport.

Also heard on this week’s episode:

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Go on an adventure into unexpected corners of the health and science world each week with award-winning host Maiken Scott.

FDA: 2 more eyedrop brands recalled due to risks

The announcements follow a recall last month of eyedrops made in India that were linked to an outbreak of drug-resistant infections.

Penn Medicine residents are demanding better working conditions amid growing unionization efforts

Residents at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Hospital have joined a growing number of physician unionization efforts.

Mobile addiction treatment and naloxone expansion part of Camden County’s plans for opioid settlement funds

The first year of settlement funds from national opioid lawsuits have reached Camden County, where officials will prioritize treatment and naloxone access.

Shapiro zeros in on education, county programs in his first state budget address

Delaware House approves legal marijuana, again

‘A way out’: Gun violence survivor teams up with juvenile justice program to offer boys a second chance

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