There has been a rare but continuing string of catastrophic injuries caused by executing a takedown while in a guillotine.

in 2009 Zach Kirk shot for a double leg in the main event of an amateur show and got caught in a guillotine. When the fight hit the ground, Kirk’s fifth cervical vertebra shattered, bone fragments ground into his spinal cord, and his muscles went limp forever.

In 2010 Braulio Estima was temporarily paralyzed while shooting for a single leg.

In early 2010 Franco Lescano was training at Argentina’s Tiger Gym for his MMA debut when he attempted a takedown while caught in a guillotine. The resulting injury left him paralyzed from the neck down, and he died 21 days later.

In 2013, Devin Johnson a student at Urijah Faber’s Ultimate Fitness suffered a fracture of his fourth cervical vertebrae was paralyzed, from the identical situation.

The rate of catastrophic injury rate for MMA is less than that for a number of physical activities, including cheerleading. However, catastrophic injury is possible, and with now multiple cases of permanent paralysis and a death resulting from a takedown while in a standing guillotine, trainers and athletes need to heighten their awareness.

Although MMA is regulated, the government cannot be relied on to prevent injury in our sport. It is up to the fighters, trainers, referees, and officials to develop awareness that some aspects of the sport are exceptionally dangerous. Driving into a double with the head trapped in a Guillotine can be fatal.

The Sacramento Bee has a remarkable record of covering MMA fairly and intelligently and has done several articles on Devin Johnson is fighting back from the injury.When he awoke from a two-week medically induced coma, doctors have him a 3 percent chance he would regain any movement below his neck.

In the latest, Cathie Anderson profiles Johnson for her continuing series on the people who shape Sacramento’s business landscape. The former fighter says paralysis has opened his eyes to an untapped business niche, and he has launched an Indiegogo campaign to develop a new app he calls FuseFit.

As Johnson regained limited use of his arm and legs, other people with disabilities asked him about his training routine. So he wants to develop an app to connect the disabled with personal trainers, like those that helped him.

When I thought of creating this company, it wasn’t for the money, said Johnson. There are a lot of people that come to me with questions about how I work out. I decided it would be important to start a whole new market for fitness, a market that isn’t as prominent as I would like it to be. It would target … the disabled and the elderly. That’s a big change as opposed to your high-intensity cross trainers.

Everybody’s injury is different. There are some people that can do a lot more than me, and there are some who can do a lot less. I attribute a lot of what I can do today – my stamina and things – to the immediate workout regimen, coming right out of rehab and continuing the nonstop intensity.

My first workout definitely was not standing up. I didn’t know that standing up would become an option. Back when it became an option, I think that was because of the fact that I continued to work out on the off time. I was doing little curls, trying to get my shoulders strong enough to help maintain my body posture so that it wasn’t my legs taking all the weight. I built my upper body so I could feel more confident.

I have a hard time going from sit to stand, and even when I do stand, I’m not really comfortable with moving from side to side laterally. I don’t feel very comfortable even with a walker. My legs give out. I’m not sure if it’s fatigue or what.

Johnson does not walk, and may never be able to, but that is not stopping him from trying, and trying to help others.

Donate to the FuseFit Indiegogo campaign.