RJ Tanner lives on a quiet farm in George County — far from major hospitals or technology hubs — but he’s one of the first people in the world to receive a Neuralinkbrain-computer interface.
The device, developed by the Elon Musk-founded neurotechnology company, is an implant that translates brain activity into digital commands. Put simply: Tanner, who was paralyzed from the neck down after a motorcycle crash four years ago, can now operate a computer with his thoughts.
“I went from not being able to do anything to moving the cursor on the computer within minutes,” Tanner said. “It absolutely gave me my sense of independence and freedom back.”
Before the accident, Tanner lived a “wide-open, full-throttle” life. A military veteran, he worked with the Child Rescue Initiative, helping to track down human traffickers and rescue victims in developing countries. He rode his motorcycle, took care of his farm and spent time with his four daughters.
“Seven days a week, 365, I was on a bike,” he said. “Then in a moment, I was paralyzed from the neck down. You can’t do anything. You can’t even scratch your nose. You have to depend on someone for every little thing in your life.”
He remembers when doctors told him he’d never move again.
“They said I’d be on a ventilator for the rest of my life,” he said. “The doctor asked, ‘What are your goals?’ and I told him, ‘I want to be as independent as possible.’ And he said, ‘Mr. Tanner, you have unrealistic expectations.’”
Finding a way forward
Tanner soon learned about Neuralink from someone who had shared an article on Facebook about Nolan Arbaugh, the first person to get the implant.
“He’s also paralyzed from the neck down,” Tanner said. “… I had to be a part of it — whatever we needed to do.”
Over the next two years, Tanner underwent medical evaluations and imaging scans to see if he was a candidate for the device, which was first successfully implanted into a human brain in 2024.
“They did a 3D printout of my actual skull … how thick it is, the density,” he said. “Everything was a match. Everything was a go.”
In April of this year, he went to Miami for the implantation procedure, and when he woke up afterward, he said he was stunned to see Musk — the world’s richest man — standing beside him.
“I saw him there, and I was like, that’s not really Mr. Elon,” Tanner said. “He thanked us for volunteering for the trial, and I’m sitting there humbled because he has created something in his company that has changed my life forever.”
The new normal
The surgery was noninvasive, and Tanner left the hospital the next day. Engineers from Neuralink met him at a hotel to help him learn the system.
“I wasn’t tech-savvy before the accident,” he said. “But I went from not being able to do anything to moving a cursor on a computer. I don’t even know if it took 15 minutes.”
Tanner now uses the implant to control his computer, phone and TV through a Bluetooth-like connection to his brain’s motor cortex.
He explained how some of the functions work while he’s playing the “Call of Duty” video game: “I imagine moving my pinky and it aims. Whenever it shoots, I imagine pulling my index finger, and it shoots. If I want to reload or change weapons, I squeeze the toes on my left foot.”
Beyond communication and games, Tanner said the device restored a deeper sense of self.
“When I realized that I could use my phone without having to scream at it, it was game on,” he said. “I was messaging everybody … ‘My Neuralink’s working!’”
Before that, Tanner said, what seems like small tasks to others — turning on the TV, changing the channel, opening an app to play music — were taking a toll.
“It sounds silly, it sounds petty — whatever — but it’d been almost three years and anytime if I need a television turned on, somebody’s got to get the remote and do it for me,” he said. “You really get tired of having to ask people for every little thing you need.”
Now, he can send messages, browse the web and use voice-free navigation.
“You don’t want to voice text everything you’re saying out loud in a room full of people,” he said. “Now I can sit there, look at my phone, and I can click and type messages just like you can.”
A life reclaimed
Tanner said regaining his independence gave him motivation to keep pushing forward.
“I’m not on a pity party. I put me here. I’ve never backed down from that,” he said. “I started out with absolutely nothing … and (I want to say) I was able to generate or create a business that would change the wealth of my family for the next generation right here from this chair.”
He said his family and community have been a foundation throughout his journey.
“I wouldn’t want to live anywhere other than Lucedale,” he said. “Lucedale is built on love. It’s one of the last little ‘Mayberries’ in America.”
After his surgery, the Neuralink team traveled to the town to help him set up his home system and work through the early stages of using the implant.
“The most brilliant minds in the world showed up to Lucedale, Mississippi, out here at Dogriver — a little town out in the middle of nowhere — and set all my systems up,” he said.
Tanner calls them “game-changers,” crediting their efforts for giving him an opportunity to interact with his daughter in a way he didn’t think would be possible.
During early simulation tests, the team taught him how to control a robotic hand on a computer screen.
“That’s the first (physical) interaction that her and I ever had,” he said. “She never remembers me holding her, never remembers any of that … but then when she saw that I could move the robotic hand … she thought that was the coolest thing ever.”
He said they played “Rock, Paper, Scissors” for hours.
“That right there made it worth it to me,” he said.
Tanner’s desires to go “full-throttle” aren’t going anywhere.
Forward Focus
“I’ve got Lucedale behind me. I’ve got the county behind me,” he said. “With my support system and the Neuralink team, anything is possible.”
As for what comes next, he said he’s open to opportunity.
“With every door that life closed on me, I’m coming back to buy the building,” he said. “Because of Neuralink, I’m going to be able to re-up and reinvent, recreate myself.”
Already, he’s utilized his implant to earn a certification in medical cannabis cultivation, and he plans to launch a micro-grow operation. He’s also enrolling in cybersecurity courses.
“There are so many people that would love this opportunity,” he said. “So, I feel like I would let them down if I just woke up and didn’t do anything with it, never used it or just kept everything to myself.”
This report was produced by the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center at the University of Southern Mississippi.
