For Mayo scientist, spinal-injury research is personal

Peter Grahn has faced the same question for a dozen years since he dived as a reckless teen into a southwest Minnesota lake, slammed headfirst into the shallow bottom, and floated — face down and motionless — on the surface.

Will I ever walk again? Turns out, he might end up as one of the first researchers in the world who can really answer it.

The accident left Grahn with quadriplegia at 18 but, fueled by the lack of research at the time, he turned his life's focus toward rehabilitative medicine and eventually became a spinal cord injury researcher at Mayo Clinic.

Learn more: For Mayo scientist, spinal-injury research is personal