DEF CON's hacker-in-chief faces fortune in medical bills after paralyzing neck injury
Marc Rogers, DEF CON's head of security, faces tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills following an accident that left him with a broken neck and temporary quadriplegia.
The prominent industry figure, whose work has spanned roles at tech companies such as Vodafone and Okta, including ensuring the story lines on Mr Robot and The Real Hustle were factually sound, is recovering in hospital.
Speaking to The Register, Rogers confirmed his prognosis is good and he's now doing much better than he was three weeks ago when the incident, the nature of which he didn't detail, took place.
Whatever the incident was, it left the cyber pro with a broken neck, but he wasn't aware of this at the time. He had no symptoms other than some "manageable neck pain," and nothing out of the ordinary showed up on a routine X-ray and an MRI wasn't possible due to insurance delays.
A week later, Rogers started losing some sensation in his hands and tried to have the MRI rescheduled, but the approval from his insurance company never came. While waiting for said approval, he and his family holidayed in northern California and by the time he returned on December 30, he says he lost "about 20 percent sensation and a similar amount of mobility in both arms."
