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Relying on a wheelchair for mobility, Josh Smith employed a robotic exoskeleton to get on one knee and propose to his girlfriend, Grace Thompson.
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Josh Smith and Grace Thompson met on the dating app Bumble and realized they attended the same Richmond church, yet they had never crossed paths. They went on their first date on Feb. 29, 2020, and were able to go on a few more traditional dates prior to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Their love blossomed. “We knew it was special when we didn’t want to kill each other after being in quarantine,” Josh says with a laugh.
He decided to propose on June 25, 2021, and had the romantic vision of getting on one knee to ask Grace, but there was a problem: Josh is a quadriplegic with limited mobility in his arms. He sustained a spinal cord injury several years ago from diving into a wave and hitting a sandbar. During his recovery, he had used a robotic exoskeleton at the Sheltering Arms Hanover clinic a few times that allowed him to walk in limited spurts. With an engineering background, Josh thought of the exoskeleton when trying to work out how he could get on one knee.
He was assisted in pulling off the feat by physical therapists Lizzie Goodwin-Horn (formerly of Sheltering Arms) and Alexander Lavallis. Since Josh was no longer a Sheltering Arms patient, they took time during their off hours to assist him as he practiced getting into position for the proposal. They were also there for the main event, helping Josh get into place on his home’s deck before Grace arrived.
With assistance from her friends, Grace was blindfolded and led to the deck. When it was removed, she was elated, but not just due to the proposal — she was surprised to see Josh bent down. “She said even though seeing me on my knee was cool, it was the fact that she could see me standing up and give me a hug and kiss while I was standing up that was the more ‘wow’ factor for Grace,” Josh says. She had never seen him standing before, creating a beautiful moment. See the video of the proposal below:
