TORONTO — Injury prevention and education programs are being credited in part for the decline in spinal injuries among ice hockey players in Canada.

Soon-to-be published findings from the ThinkFirst Foundation of Canada, which keeps a registry of catastrophic spinal cord injuries, reveal the numbers have dropped considerably in recent years from peaks reached in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

The findings were presented Wednesday at the Safe Hockey Summit held at the Hockey Hall of Fame, where representatives from the medical community and hockey officials gathered to discuss concussions and spinal injuries.

ThinkFirst is a charitable foundation dedicated to reducing brain and spinal cord injuries among children and youth. Continue Reading »

Justin Cochran may be disabled from the neck down, but that has not stopped him from skydiving, parasailing, hiking or organizing a golf tournament.

The Fourth Annual Justin Cochran Spinal Cord Injury Foundation Golf Tournament is set to tee off at Egwani Farms Golf Course June 17. The tourney is one of the foundation’s biggest fund-raisers that help raise awareness for people with spinal injuries.

Formed four years ago, the foundation began as a way to educate, encourage and inspire people affected with disabilities. It was created after avid explorer and daredevil Justin Cochran suffered an injury at a family reunion. Doing a back handspring for his cousins at a family reunion, he miscalculated and landed directly on his head, suffering a C1-C2 fracture. The accident paralyzed him from the neck down and made him dependent on a Ventilator. Continue Reading »

For patients with paralyzing spinal cord injuries, sometimes it takes more than medicine and Physical Therapy to help get them on the road to recovery. At one facility that focuses on rehabilitating those patients, technology plays a huge role in turning Disability into ability.

Rehabilitation technologist at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Ga., Kevin Grogg makes changes that change lives. It’s all about adapting simple things we take for granted like switching on a light, a fan, or even the TV.

“The patient would put their mouth on this end and be able to manipulate specific objects the way we might touch them with our hands,” Grogg described.Giving back control for those who have lost use of their limbs. Continue Reading »

The last four years of Jonathan Kloss’ life have been a challenge.

But not just because he took classes that pushed him and had to deal with everything that high school students encounter.

Jonathan also had to adjust to life in a wheelchair.

On May 20, 2004, — just before the end of eighth grade — Jonathan suffered severe spinal cord injuries in a bicycle accident.

On Monday night, four years after his accident, Jonathan and his classmates became graduates of West Scranton High School.

“I never thought I’d be here,” Jonathan, now 18, said. Continue Reading »

Some tips from a quadriplegic on a variety of things….opening mail, carrying cell phone, water bottle with strap, opening zippers, blow dryer holder, small gadget holder

Spinal Cord Injury Recovery – Austin, TX

Central Nervous System may be retrained, report led by Physical Therapist shows

ALEXANDRIA, VA (June 4, 2008)—A new report shows that a non-ambulatory (unable to walk or stand) child with a Cervical spinal cord injury was able to restore basic walking function after intensive locomotor training. The case study, published in Physical Therapy (May 2008), the scientific journal of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), evaluated the effects of locomotor training in a 4 ½ year-old-boy, who had no ability to walk following a gunshot wound sixteen months earlier. Continue Reading »

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2008) — A new study at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University identifies a key mechanism for the normal development of Motor nerve cells (motor neurons) – cells that control muscles. This finding is crucial to understanding and treating a range of conditions involving nerve cell loss or damage, from spinal cord injury to neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Nerve cell Regeneration is a complex process. Not only do nerve cells have to regenerate, but just as importantly, their specific and individual connections need to be regenerated also. The study, published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides invaluable insight into these vital processes by understanding the mechanisms involved in normal development of selected types of spinal cord motor nerve cells. Continue Reading »

Book looks at family challenges

Spinal cord injury (SCI) affects an estimated 12,000 people each year, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. But the challenges of returning to a healthy, productive life can significantly impact the family unit, as well. Dr. Michelle J. Alpert and Saul Wisnia explore those issues in a new book titled, “Spinal Cord Injury and the Family: A New Guide.”

“People [who are paralyzed] worry about the losses, and are often not capable of understanding that life can go on and be fulfilling,” Alpert said. “It is such a devastating, catastrophic event. But once you can learn to manage the changes in the body, you can live a life.” Continue Reading »

Several University of Guelph leaders will be spending June 4 in wheelchairs to help raise awareness of the upcoming Wheels in Motion event and the challenges faced by people living with spinal cord injury and other physical disabilities.

President Alastair Summerlee, who is the honorary chair of the sixth annual Wheels in Motion being held June 8, has spent a day in a wheelchair for the past several years to draw attention to the event. This year, he will be joined by Joanne Shoveller, vice-president (alumni affairs and development); Brenda Whiteside, associate vice-president (student affairs); Mike Emes, dean of the College of Biological Science; and Robin Begin, director of Campus Community Police. Summerlee will also spend Wednesday, June 4, in a wheelchair. Continue Reading »