reporter: what you re witnessing is groundbreaking. rob summers making history by standing up. to understand just how incredible this moment is, you have to go back to a summer night in 2006 when rob, a baseball player nicknamed superman, met tragedy. i was playing the best i ever had and was hit by a car in a hit and run while i was standing in my driveway. reporter: what do you remember from that time? i couldn t move my arms. i tried to yell and nothing would come out. it was like my worst nightmare realized. reporter: his mother rushed to the hospital. and they said, we have signs of spinal cord injury. and you just your world stops spinning. reporter: rob was paralyzed from the chest down. told he would never walk again. i turned to the doctor and i said, obviously you don t know me very well. i m going to walk again. nice to meet you. very nice meeting you. reporter: soon after rob learned of groundbreaking
research, a first in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. doctors implanted a tiny stimulator in his spinal cord below the area that was damaged. when the stimulator is turned on, it energizes his damaged nerves. allowing him to move parts of his body that were paralyzed. i turned, i go, hey, look. my toe s moving. everyone s mouths hit the floor. left leg up. reporter: so every day now rob spends hours training, willing his body to move. do you think that there is a possibility that one day rob summers and people like him may be able to walk on their own? yes, yes, i do. we still have a lot of studies to do. reporter: it was the dream of dana and christopher reeve that those with spinal cord injuries would one day walk again. they would have seen rob as their personal superman. it gives incredible hope to that. reporter: and for rob it is one small step at a time. dr. richard besser, abc news, new york. wouldn t that be amazing? so many people in that situation that
research, a first in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. doctors implanted a tiny stimulator in his spinal cord below the area that was damaged. when the stimulator is turned on, it energizes his damaged nerves. allowing him to move parts of his body that were paralyzed. i turned, i go, hey, look. my toe s moving. everyone s mouths hit the floor. left leg up. reporter: so every day now rob spends hours training, willing his body to move. do you think that there is a possibility that one day rob summers and people like him may be able to walk on their own? yes, yes, i do. we still have a lot of studies to do. reporter: it was the dream of dana and christopher reeve that those with spinal cord injuries would one day walk again. they would have seen rob as their personal superman. it gives incredible hope to that. reporter: and for rob it is one small step at a time. dr. richard besser, abc news, new york. wouldn t that be amazing? so many people in that situation