PHILADELPHIA— The number of spinal cord injuries among senior citizens (age 70 and above) has increased five times in the past 30 years, as compared with younger spinal cord injury patients, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson’s Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of the Delaware Valley recently reported.

As the population within the United States ages, it is estimated that 20 percent of its population will be older than age 65 by the year 2040, and will likely impact spine surgeons and spinal cord Rehabilitation centers as these patients become a larger proportion of the spinal cord injury (SCI) population. The findings were just presented by Jefferson neurological surgeons at a meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. of the Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Continue Reading »

Actress, dancer, storyteller Jaehn Clare, disabled by a serious life-changing injury, will present an awareness raising performance and heartfelt audience conversation on Thursday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Baylor School Roddy Theater.

Ms. Clare has worked in the theater arts for close to 30 years. In 1980, when she fell 27 feet from a ladder, sustaining a spinal cord injury that confined her to a wheel-chair, she could have “given up.” She did not. She realized that all of her creative abilities and passion for doing and promoting the arts were still in tact.

As a result, Ms. Clare has continued a busy career in the arts and has become a champion and renowned example, for artists with disabilities. Continue Reading »

DURHAM – The ease with which the competitors zipped up and down the court made one almost forget they’re missing something most sports players have – the use of their legs.

Yesterday, the Northeast Passage Wildcats, the new quadriplegic rugby team at the University of New Hampshire, held its first tournament, competing against players from around New England and elsewhere.

The most obvious difference between this and other sports has to do with the use of specially designed wheelchairs – each has six wheels, two large ones on either side, and four smaller ones in front and back. Continue Reading »