LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The music is bumping and the vibes are immaculate on a Friday afternoon at the DRIVEN Neurorecovery Center in Downtown Las Vegas.
WATCH | Sam Schmidt shares how community can help support rehab center
The weightlifting club is in action and they encourage each other.
"Come on! Come on! Come on!"
The only thing that might look a little different when you compare it to other gyms: the gym members are in wheelchairs.
DRIVEN is not an ordinary gym. It's specifically designed to provide equipment, training, mental health services, group therapy, and other resources to people with spinal cord injuries or those with neurodegenerative conditions. For example, Parkinson's Disease and multiple sclerosis.
The gym opened in 2018 and is run by a group called Conquer Paralysis Now, which was founded by former Indy Car driver Scott Schmidt. He knows first-hand what his clients go through.
WATCH | OCTOBER 2018 | Former race car driver opening rehab center
He followed his dad into racing and his biggest career moment came right here in the valley.
"Like any sports you specialize in, you start early. So I started at five with motocross and then had a bit of a roller coaster just finding money and expectations and winning," Schmidt told me. "I didn't make it to Indy Car until I think I was about 27 or 28 and did race for three years. It was everything I thought it would be and more. It all culminated here in September of 1999. I sat on the pole out at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and won that race. Life was good."
Less than four months later, Schmidt's life changed in an instant. While doing a test drive on the Walt Disney World Speedway in Florida, he crashed into a wall going more than 200 miles per hour. The accident led to him becoming a quadriplegic.
"It not only turns your life upside down but everybody around you. We have a six-month-old and a two-and-a-half-year-old," Schmidt said. "We did a lot of research and found the best place for me to go at the time was St. Louis, so everybody packed up and we moved there. I was there for six months and in-patient rehabilitation."
He says over the years, he has seen issues with insurance companies and watched technology evolve. He decided he wanted to help people in similar situations, which is why he was inspired to found Conquer Paralysis Now and the center.
"Rehabilitation has been decreased so much by modern insurance and people are going home way too premature. They're not getting properly rehabilitated. They're not getting an opportunity to get back into life," Schmidt said. "The problem is for-profit insurance companies. I know that in-patient rehabilitation is $7,000 a day so they have methodically cut that back. I got six months [in 2000]. Now, you're going to get four weeks."
He says the center is also a place where people don't have to feel alone in their struggles.
"The divorce rate, the suicide rate, people just really don't feel like they can either go on with life," Schmidt explained. "So this place is all about trying to give people that ability to get back into life and at least try to set goals, physically and mentally."
Those goals look different for everyone. Some are big goals like building up the strength to walk again. For others, it's small things that most of us take for granted.
"A few weeks ago, one of our clients, his goal was just to be able to transfer himself in and out of his car," said Britt Sutton, CEO of Conquer Paralysis Now. "He achieved that through the work that he was doing here."
The center also offers classes that cover everything from weightlifting to yoga.
"You'll have people that come in and say you know, I'm really just here for a sense of hope. Whenever I had my accident, I thought I'd never be able to walk again. I'd never be able to drive again and even if you can't, you see other people who are going through the same thing," Sutton said. "You're working out together. You're recovering together. There's a sense of camaraderie and our population deals with isolation quite a bit. And so, here there's no isolation. It's a sense of community and everybody's ready to challenge each other and lift each other up."
Some of the unique technology being used at the center includes Functional Electrical Stimulation, or FES, machines. They stimulate and strength muscles. There are also special treadmills, which help clients maintain their strength, encourage blood flow, and strengthen bone density.
That technology also includes developing a semi-autonomous car, which allowed Schmidt to return to the race track. The vehicle uses a sip-and-puff device, which allows it to be controlled through breaths and head movements.
WATCH | MARCH 2021 | Las Vegas race car driver returns to track
"Ironically, the goal was not just for me to drive but it's actually to get people back to work," Schmidt explained. "People can use that technology to drive a fork lift, drive whatever they want or control whatever they want."
Several of the gym's clients will be able to drive that same vehicle at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday and they're encouraging members of the public to come out to cheer them on. That's from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and you can enter through Gate 5.
The center and Conquer Paralysis Now are also holding their annual fundraiser at SPEEDVEGAS on Sunday, starting at 5:30 p.m. You can choose tickets that let you ride with a driver in a supercar, drive the car yourself, or ride along with a professional driver. Tickets start at $100. You can buy tickets and learn more here.
Both Sutton and Schmidt said the fundraiser is important for them to continue their work serving the Las Vegas community. All of the money from this weekend's events will stay in Las Vegas.
"There's no insurance reimbursement or state funding that pays for this. So for us to be able to function and serve over a hundred people a week, we need funding," Schmidt explained. "The fundraiser this weekend will really provide the funding for all of next year for this facility and not to mention it's a good time. It's a chance to drive fast cars, drive go-karts, and take rides with drivers."
The center currently serves about 106 people and they are almost at their 130-person capacity. Schmidt said they're trying to also raise money to find a bigger building, preferably closer to the Las Vegas Medical District so they can help even more people.
And with the organization continuing to grow, Schmidt said he thinks this was his purpose in life.
"We just want to help as many people as we can. We've kind of taken on a heck of a lot more than we originally thought we would and the need is way greater than we originally thought it would be but probably the reason I was put on Earth is to do this," Schmidt said. "Now, with this place, I really get a lot of enjoyment and fulfillment out of seeing other people accomplish their goals."
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