NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, November 28, 2020
Stepping forward with a boost from technology
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Each
weekday morning, Moun-
tain Valley Therapy is fi lled
with patients with comeback
stories to share.
Many are there to receive
therapy for muscle or bone
injuries or help in recover-
ing from joint replacement
surgeries.
And then there is Bruce
Kevan, a retired La Grande
educator with a comeback
story so compelling any-
one searching for a super-
lative to describe its mag-
nitude
might
emerge
empty-handed.
Kevan is the survivor of
a spinal cord injury suffered
in a bicycle accident 5½
years ago. The crash left his
legs paralyzed. Today, thou-
sands of hours of rehabilita-
tion work later, Kevan con-
tinues to make progress in
terms of nerve and muscle
function. Still Kevan, who is
able to drive a vehicle that is
specially outfi tted, needs an
electric wheelchair to move
about.
It is a wheelchair he may
soon rise from on his own.
Kevan is regaining the abil-
ity to walk thanks to a pow-
ered Indego Exoskeleton, a
wearable mobile machine
powered by a system of
electric motors, pneumatics,
Dick Mason/The Observer
Physical therapist Rachael Dillavou, left, and physical therapy aide Angela Cain provide sup-
port for Bruce Kevan on Nov. 19, 2020, as he walks with the help of his Indego Exoskeleton at
Mountain Valley Therapy in La Grande.
levers and hydraulics that
allow for limb movement
after receiving signals from
a user’s brain.
The exoskeleton arrived
in October. Since then,
Kevan has walked a total of
3,000 meters — about 1.86
miles — indoors at Moun-
tain Valley Therapy with
the aid of a physical therapy
team that provides constant
support. The indoor walks,
often made in 23-step
increments, leave Kevan
exhausted, a level of wea-
riness that is nonetheless
exhilarating because he has
not felt this type of fatigue
since his injury.
“It is an amazing feeling
for me,” he said.
Rachael Dillavou, a phys-
ical therapist at Mountain
Valley who has been lead-
ing Kevan’s therapy for the
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Periods of clouds
and sunshine
Chilly with clouds
and sun
45° 30°
41° 27°
51° 26°
41° 25°
TUESDAY
Spotty afternoon
showers
WEDNESDAY
Chilly with
sunshine
past three years, said Kevan
has made so much prog-
ress in using the exoskele-
ton that she believes he will
be able to walk on his own
while wearing it in several
months. This means Kevan,
who lives near Greenwood
Elementary where he is a
volunteer, soon may be able
to walk there and plenty of
other places.
This is the third type of
41° 25°
Mostly sunny and
chilly
First two weekends
of the season will
be open only to
season pass holders
37° 24°
By KALEB LAY
The Observer
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
46° 26°
39° 23°
44° 23°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
48/38
Kennewick Walla Walla
46/30
Lewiston
49/37
49/26
Astoria
50/39
42/31
48/28
Longview
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Pullman
Yakima 44/25
49/35
45/31
Portland
Hermiston
47/39
The Dalles 51/26
Salem
Corvallis
48/33
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
42/25
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
50/31
49/22
44/21
Ontario
40/22
39/20
39/13
0.00"
1.65"
1.06"
3.94"
4.95"
8.37"
WINDS (in mph)
Caldwell
Burns
51°
30°
45°
30°
68° (1949) 0° (1993)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
50/35
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 41/26
46/34
0.00"
2.42"
1.30"
12.18"
11.56"
11.33"
HERMISTON
Enterprise
45/30
48/32
51°
27°
43°
30°
69° (1892) -11° (1896)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
50/34
Aberdeen
40/28
41/29
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
50/38
Today
Medford
48/30
Sun.
SW 6-12
SW 6-12
Boardman
Pendleton
NE 3-6
E 4-8
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
43/18
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020
7:12 a.m.
4:14 p.m.
3:35 p.m.
5:22 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
Nov 30
Dec 7
Dec 14
Dec 21
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 91° in Kingsville, Texas Low -5° in Antero Reservoir, Colo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
“It takes a little input
from the brain and maxi-
mizes it,” she said. “It is not
a robot. You have to work.”
The State Accident Insur-
ance Fund covers the cost of
the exoskeleton.
“They have paid for
everything, every step
of the way,” Kevan said.
“They have been incredibly
supportive.”
Kevan qualifi ed for assis-
tance from SAIF because he
was injured while at work
serving as interim princi-
pal at Central Elementary
School. He was cycling to a
meeting when the accident
occurred in 2014. Kevan
worked in the La Grande
School District as a principal
for almost 20 years, includ-
ing 10 as Central Elementa-
ry’s principal, before retir-
ing in 2010 after a 34-year
career as an educator.
Dillavou said SAIF offi -
cials are well aware of the
remarkable progress Kevan
is continuing to make. A
letter from SAIF, she said,
referred to Kevan’s “awe-
some track record,” which
contributed to their approval
of funding for Kevan’s
Indego Exoskeleton.
Dillavou also said she
has never had a patient work
harder than Kevan has.
“We never have to moti-
vate him,” she said. “He
motivates us.”
Opening weekend set at Anthony Lakes
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
47° 30°
exoskeleton Kevan has had
during his therapy. The oth-
ers were much stiffer and
unwieldy, and were diffi cult
to walk in unattended.
“It was like I was Fran-
kenstein. I was so stiff-
legged,” Kevan said.
However, those exoskel-
etons played a valuable role
in his recovery.
“They helped get me on
my feet,” he said.
Kevan knew immediately
after being fi tted with the
Indego Exoskeleton the fi rst
time that it would make him
dramatically more ambu-
latory. He understood this
when he realized the new
exoskeleton made it much
easier for him to stand.
“I said, ‘I’m sold,’” he
recalled.
He then went on to walk
more than 20 steps with
the help of his therapists,
a red-letter experience for
Kevan, since he had not
been able to do this since his
accident.
“It was an emotional
day,” he said.
That walk and the many
that have followed refl ect
how the signals Kevan’s legs
are receiving from his brain
are getting stronger. The
exoskeleton would not oper-
ate if this were not the case,
Dillavou said, stressing
that the device is far from
automatic.
BAKER CITY — Skiers
and snowboarders rejoice:
Anthony Lakes Mountain
Resort opens to season pass
holders for the fi rst turns of
the season on Saturday, Nov.
28.
Peter Johnson, who man-
ages the resort, said that snow
conditions were better than
had been expected earlier in
the year.
“It’s looking really good,”
he said. “This is by far the
best snow, the most snow
we’ve had this early. All the
forecasts sound really good.
We’ll see if those come
through or not, but obviously
with COVID, that changes
everything for us.”
The slopes at Anthony
Lakes can be expected to
look a bit different this year.
For a start, the resort is
adopting a “zero tolerance
policy” regarding the wear-
ing of masks.
“It’s the state mandate,
we’re going to be enforcing
it,” he said. “We have a busi-
ness to run, and it’s not a dis-
cussion point. Wear a mask
or not come up, there’s a lot
of other places to go skiing.
For the state of Oregon, it’s
required, so we’re going to be
enforcing it.”
All guests and employees
will be required to mask up
“from the moment you pull
into the Anthony Lakes park-
ing lot to when you leave,”
except while eating or drink-
ing, and Johnson said that
anyone who refuses to wear
one will be asked to leave.
The resort is also adopt-
ing a sort of cohort-style
“IT’S LOOKING
REALLY GOOD.
THIS IS BY FAR
THE BEST SNOW,
THE MOST SNOW
WE’VE HAD THIS
EARLY.”
— Peter Johnson, Anthony
Lakes Mountain Resort manager
approach to the ride up the
mountain on the ski lift.
“If you show up in the
same vehicle, you can ride
the lift together,” Johnson
said. “No one, we’re not
going to force someone to
ride with someone they don’t
know. We’re going to have a
lot of changes to our lift line
and just asking people to ride
with the people they drove up
with.”
For example, someone
who arrives at the resort
alone will ride the ski lift to
the top alone, and a group
who carpooled to the resort
will ride only with the mem-
bers of that group.
Guests also will have to
maintain a social distance of
6 feet, and Anthony Lakes
will have a “fl oor walker”
patrolling the lodge during
business hours to help guests
maintain their distance, dis-
infect surfaces and answer
questions as needed.
The Starbottle Saloon
will feature a new ski-thru
window for service and will
place an emphasis on provid-
ing outdoor seating, though
a reduced amount of indoor
seating will be available.
Notably, Anthony Lakes
will limit the number of day
tickets its sells to reduce the
number of people on the
mountain each day.
“It’s going to be a very
tough year for us fi nancially,”
Johnson said. “Day tickets
are our main source of rev-
enue. I’ve heard some peo-
ple say we’re just trying to
push season pass sales; that
is not the case at all. The rea-
son we’re doing passholders
only is that passholders gen-
erally make up about 25% of
our daily skier visits. So the
reason we’re starting with
just passholders is so we can
gauge and make sure we’re
not going over capacity.”
IN BRIEF
College Place man faces new
child sex crime charges
WALLA WALLA, Wash. — Charges of
second-degree rape of a child and indecent
exposure have been added against a College
Place, Washington, man already charged with
other crimes against children.
Ryan Brandon Norman Dahlin, 30, pleaded
not guilty to the new charges on Wednesday,
Nov. 25, court documents show. Bail for the
new charges has been set at $25,000.
His previous charges are second-degree
child molestation and communication with a
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minor for immoral purposes. He pleaded not
guilty to those charges on Nov. 23.
Dahlin was arrested in College Place fol-
lowing an investigation by the Walla Walla
Police Department.
A trial date has been set for Jan. 13, 2021, at
9:30 a.m. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for
Dec. 29 at 1 p.m.
A 12-year-old girl told police that Dah-
lin had touched her inappropriately dozens
of times, court documents state. According
to the documents, the girl said the abuse has
been going on since mid-September.
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