Brenham has seen its share of cross-country travelers on a mission to raise public awareness for a certain cause.

Few, however, have had not only a mission but others join them along the way.

Aaron Roux is one of those people. Roux is currently on a cross-country handbike ride from Ocean Beach, Calif., to St. Augustine, Fla.

Roux, from Tuscon, Ariz., is a medically retired lance corporal Marine who experienced a spinal cord injury leaving him a quadriplegic. He began his journey 42 days ago, as a member of the “Trans American Quad” team. He was inspired by Rick Mason of Davis, Calif., who organized the event, and now provides logistical support for the ride. Continue Reading »

Gutsy Andy Walker has battled to live life to the full since he was paralysed from the neck down in a freak accident five years ago.

The Milnrow man’s amazing spirit and determination to take whatever life throws at him on the chin, has seen the former rugby player scale England’s third-highest mountain, Helvellyn, in a wheelchair.

And his attitude has now landed him an acting role in TV soap Emmerdale.

His ITV debut is on Friday, when he is drafted in to show Jackson Walsh (Marc Silcock) that he has a life to live. Continue Reading »

Skydiving seems like the last thing a person with a spinal cord injury should be doing, but we love to see people who defy expectations. Do you have a disability and want to jump out of a plane? No reason to let that wheelchair stop you. Continue Reading »

Tommy Hollenstein is an artist with a spinal cord injury, but unlike others in his situation, he rejected the usual method of mouthpainting. Tommy uses the wheels on his power chair to create colorful, unique works of art. Continue Reading »

The Texas Commission on Health and Human Services’ denial of customized power wheelchairs has sparked a lawsuit in federal court.

Plaintiffs Bradley Koenning, 23, Brian Martin, 27, and Morgan Ryals, 25, all three of whom are disabled Medicaid beneficiaries, sued Thomas Suehs, executive commissioner of The Texas Commission on Health and Human Services (HHSC), on Feb. 15. Continue Reading »

Canadian Morgan Van Breda is cycling from Delhi to Kanyakumari to raise awareness about spinal cord injury, and funds for her own treatment

Thirty two year-old Morgan Van Breda is cycling across India — with her hands. The ambitious young Canadian was only 24 when a soccer post collapsed on her back while she was in Cuba, turning her into a paraplegic.

Now, she is on a 3,900 km, seven-week journey from Agra to Kanyakumari on a handcyle, raising awareness about spinal cord injury, and funds for breakthrough stem cell research that may allow her to walk again.  Continue Reading »

A new treatment approach which uses tiny bursts of electricity to reawaken paralyzed muscles “significantly” reduced disability and improved grasping in people with incomplete spinal cord injuries, beyond the effects of standard therapy, newly published research shows.

In a study published online in the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, Toronto researchers report that functional electrical stimulation (FES) therapy worked better than conventional occupational therapy alone to increase patients’ ability to pick up and hold objects. Continue Reading »

Brain controlled driving of real cars: what fun! Autonomos Labs in Germany have used an Emotiv headset and developed a way to drive using thoughts to decide LEFT or RIGHT. Continue Reading »

A relatively new treatment protocol is providing nearly miraculous results for some victims of spinal cord injuries, reports the Miami Herald. In the case of one 20-year-old gymnast from Florida, hypothermic treatment before surgery appears to have prevented profound paralysis and put him back on his feet just days after the accident.

The young gymnast, a state champion, was practicing for an audition with the Cirque de Soleil when a double flip went badly wrong. He missed and landed squarely on his head. Continue Reading »

WINDSRO, Ont. — Jennifer Darmon rests her hands on her fiancé’s shoulders, looks into his eyes and takes a step.

Jack Johnson’s Better Together is playing in the background. “It’s not always easy,” the song goes, and Jennifer’s foot lands squarely on her fiancé’s.

The dance is clumsy at first, but it gets better. The song says that, too.

With no sensation from her hips down, it’s amazing that Jennifer is on her feet at all. That she will walk down the aisle April 16 and share a first dance with her bridegroom is miraculous.

Jennifer, 28, suffered a catastrophic spinal injury in a 2008 car crash. A vertebra broken and the nerves to her spinal cord shredded, she was told by a surgeon in London that she would never walk again. Continue Reading »