A marathon recovery

Tagatac, who is a paraplegic, will use a handcycle — a modified three-wheeled bicycle powered by a hand crank — to complete in the grueling 26-mile race through Burlington.

He expects to finish in two-and-a-half to three hours.

Tagatac, 50, lost the use of his legs on July 26, 2011, when he fell from a ladder while replacing a floodlight. The split-second accident damaged a one-and-a-half-inch section of his spinal cord between his T7 and T8 vertebrae, leaving him with no feeling below his belly button.

Before his accident, Tagatac had always been physically active, enjoying skiing, hockey, soccer, golf and cycling. Returning to physical activity has been a big component of his recovery over the past two years.

“My life is never going to be normal again but I’m trying to create a new normal,” Tagatac said.

He travels to Boston and New Jersey regularly for physical therapy sessions and participates in adaptive sports. At home, he works out on an adaptive rowing machine built by Concept 2 in Morrisville.

He purchased a handcycle last year and used it to participate in the Kelly Brush Century Ride, an annual charity bike ride in Middlebury that raises money for adaptive sports equipment.

He’s been riding his handcycle for 10-mile stretches to prepare for the marathon. He averages 15 to 20 miles per hour on flat surfaces and can coast up to 45 miles per hour on downhill stretches. He travels 4 to 5 miles per hour uphill.

“I look at it as a ride,” Tagatac said. “I don’t look at it as a race. Part of my recovery is participating in sports.”

Tagatac also plays sled hockey, and this winter he learned to downhill ski using a piece of adaptive sports equipment called a monoski.

Tagatac is an ambassador for Ekso Bionics, a company that develops high-tech medical equipment to help paraplegics regain mobility.

The company makes an exoskeletal suit that allows Tagatac to walk. He straps himself into it, and when his feet, hips and shoulders are aligned correctly, he presses a button. Sensors deliver electrical impulses that cause his feet and legs to move. He took his first steps in the suit last year and has walked three days a week since.

“The first time I walked 200 steps,” Tagatac said. “The second time I walked 300 to 400. After a few months, I could take 2,000 steps an hour, a little more than half a mile.”

Using the exoskeletal suit has prevented his leg muscles from atrophying while curtailing bone density loss, health problems that most paraplegics experience.

Tagatac has traveled all over the United States and Canada to demonstrate the suit at rehab centers and hospitals.

He also manages a commercial building he owns in Waterbury and is a partner with Green Science Partners, a private equity firm with offices in Stamford, Conn., and New York City.

The support of his family has helped him remain strong and optimistic since his accident, despite the daily challenges he faces.

“I’ll have a few good weeks where I’m medically and physically strong, but in any given month I’m going to have a bad week, whether it’s physical or mental,” Tagatac said. “I wouldn’t want to do this without having a family.”

Before he was paralyzed, Tagatac once ran in the New York City Marathon. He also participated in the Ragnar Relay, a 200-mile relay race from Hull, Mass., to Provincetown.

The KeyBank Vermont City Marathon will provide him with the same challenge and excitement.

“It’s just a reminder of what it feels like to be an able-bodied athlete,” Tagatac said. “You get to run with athletes and be pulled along by the crowd on the sidelines. I’m just looking forward to having that experience again.”