Sang-Mook
Professor of Marine Geology, University of Seoul · South Korea
"Even though I can no longer put out to sea on the research vessel after my accident, thanks to modern technology like the IntegraMouse from Austria, I'm still part of it. And without getting seasick."
Sang-Mook is a South Korean marine geologist with a doctorate from MIT. In 2006, he was seriously injured in a car accident in Death Valley, California, during a research trip – he survived only thanks to 40 minutes of CPR from a student, fell into a coma, and has been paralysed from the neck down ever since a fracture to his fourth cervical vertebra.
Today he’s back working as a professor of marine geophysics at the University of Seoul, heads the “Quality of Life Technology Institute,” and was commissioned by the South Korean government to develop a national plan for people with disabilities.