New technology is helping people with paralysis move again, and it doesn't involve surgery, needles or drugs. It's a first-of-its-kind non-invasive spinal cord stimulation therapy, and it's now available at a facility in South Jersey called Project Walk.

After being paralyzed for six years, 22-year-old Sam Jarmer is up out of his wheelchair and moving.

"So to see the amount of progress that's been happening, it puts a smile on your face because you know it's like, okay, everything's improving," he said.

He broke his neck diving into the ocean when he was a lifeguard.

"That left me completely paralyzed from the chest down," said Jarmer. "I was pretty distraught at first."

He's slowly regaining the ability to move at Project Walk in Mount Laurel.

"This is the ARC," said Mike Pisani, a paralysis recovery specialist at Project Walk.

Since it was recently FDA-approved, Project Walk has been using ONWARD Medical's new spinal cord stimulation therapy.

"It's definitely life-changing technology. It certainly enhances exercise here," said Pisani.

Pisani said pads placed on the neck send electrical pulses down the back.

"It excites the spinal cord in a way that allows signals that have been damaged or interfered with because of the injury to produce more amplified effects," he said.

Jarmer said he's seen a big improvement, especially with his upper body movements.

"It's enabled me to do a lot. I have noticed improvements in my grip strength. I can hold onto things without grip assist anymore. I can move my arms a lot better," he said. "It's awesome. It's a lot of progress, and it helps a lot of people out."

The ARC-EX system is different than a traditional TENS nerve stimulation device, which is used for temporary pain control. This technology is designed to retrain spinal cord circuits to restore movement.

Research into the ARC-EX system showed 90% of participants improved strength or function of their upper limbs.

For Jarmer, it's given him hope for the future.

"The best I can be is probably the same as before I broke my neck. Running, walking, doing everything I did before, I broke my neck," he said.