Strength training for Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke clients

N. Palm Strength Trainers less costly choice for paralyzed clients


Matthew DeVlieger grasped a pair of metal canes and slowly walked a lap around the gym where he spends four hours a day.

Each step was cautious, and the 20-yard stroll required obvious effort, but it marked a major improvement. In December 2009, DeVlieger was a college tennis player on winter break when a scuba accident in the Keys cost him the use of his arms and legs.

Doctors gave him only a 4 percent chance of walking again, and DeVlieger, a blond 22-year-old, said one of his hands was locked in a claw-like position.

DeVlieger said he has made significant progress since he began working out at NeuroXcel, a North Palm Beach training center for people who have suffered brain and spine injuries. NeuroXcel's therapists painstakingly train patients to learn to walk again.

"I've been sweating a lot," DeVlieger said.

DeVlieger pays $2,995 a month for therapy at NeuroXcel, where treatment isn't covered by insurance. That sounds steep, but the training facility bills itself as a low-cost alternative for people recovering from paralysis.

"We are the cheapest state-of-the-art activity-based strength training facility in the United States," said Thomas Mullin, 46, NeuroXcel's chief executive.

Mullin learned just how expensive specialized training can be after his brother, Kevin Mullin, 32, was paralyzed in a swimming accident at a beach in Boca Raton. The Mullins gone to live in Utah for several years so Kevin could train and get therapy at several clinic's that charged in excess of $16,000 a month for various training and therapy.

The Mullins were impressed by the progress Kevin made. He regained the use of his arms, and some movement has returned to his legs.

But Thomas Mullin felt uncomfortable with the reality that a middle-class family couldn't afford the same treatment that the Mullins could.

"They love their kids as much as I love my brother," Mullin said.

So Mullin opened NeuroXcel in 2009. He says the center has lured patients from around the world.

Even so, Mullin acknowledges that NeuroXcel's prices are a stretch for many. One patient who was paralyzed in an auto accident pays for treatment with money from a legal settlement. DeVlieger said his former teammates and coach at Calvin College in Michigan have raised money to help pay for his training.

NeuroXcel cuts costs where it can. The training center occupies space on Northlake Boulevard; the landlord is a friend of Thomas Mullin's.

"We're trying to get the cost down," Mullin said. "I don't want to make this a socioeconomic club."

Mullin acknowledges that managing a training center for paralyzed client's isn't cheap. NeuroXcel employs a staff of Strength Trainers, and a single machine that Mullin describes as Robocop-meets-treadmill costs $400,000.

NeuroXcel isn't profitable yet, Mullin said, but he's already looking to open locations throughout the country. He points to patients like DeVlieger as proof that there's demand for NeuroXcel's services.

"You wouldn't stay in a program and pay this type of money if you weren't getting results," he said.