TheAbility411

This is place where people can come and ask questions regarding living with and/or wanting to learn more about people who live with a disability. We have five Vloggers who have all spent many years living life on wheels, and each week they will bring you their knowledge and opinions regarding a topic or answers to your questions. This is a “safe” and non-discriminatory channel, so feel free to ask us what you will (within reason.) Continue Reading »

When he was about 11, Chico Garcia and his friends decided it would be fun to pole vault with a stick over the hedges in his yard. After a failed attempt, Garcia landed in the hospital with a broken wrist. Doctors had to give him enough medication for a 300-pound man, and he still felt the pain.

That wasn’t enough to keep young Chico down.

“Through the whole thing he just laughed and laughed and cracked jokes,” recalled Garcia’s mom, Syrjala Garcia. “He just said, ‘Don’t worry about it, it’ll be OK! I’ll be able to jump over that hedge when I get back home.’”

Today, Garcia’s determination is more visible as a 29-year-old quadriplegic fighting to regain sensation and, perhaps, movement, below his chest. Continue Reading »

IF you’re on one of Perth’s cycle paths and a low-lying three-wheeled bike whizzes past you, chances are it’s being ridden by WA Paralympian Nigel Barley.

With the London Games fast approaching, the Parkerville resident is ramping up his training as he prepares for the toughest sporting battle of his life – the gruelling 64.5km cycle road race event.

And the man ranked fifth in the world is every chance to bring home a medal among a wide-open field of competitors from around the globe.

A London triumph would complete a remarkable story for the 37-year-old. Continue Reading »

Gatehouse Custom Access Ramp System offers a simple, stylish, easy-to-install product to make homes more accessible

MOORESVILLE, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Lowe’s, the world’s second-largest home improvement retailer, announced today at the International Builders’ Show its entrance into the do-it-yourself ramp market, with an affordable, configurable ramp system. The Gatehouse Custom Access Ramp System makes accessibility attractive and easy as life’s needs change. The program will be available to consumers in Lowe’s stores and on Lowes.com in spring 2012. Continue Reading »

New Rochelle, NY – Chronic neuropathic pain following a spinal cord injury is common and very difficult to treat, but a new therapeutic strategy requiring a one-time injection into the spinal column has potential to improve patient outcomes.

This cutting-edge pain management strategy is described in an article published in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online, along with a related article on pain following spinal cord injury. Continue Reading »

Try to imagine what it must have felt like.

Staring down at a snowy jump knowing you’d broken your neck and severed your spinal cord eight years ago trying to do a flying front flip on skis. Now you’re about to attempt a back flip while sitting on a chair with a single ski under it.

Would you do it? Would you tempt fate twice? Josh Dueck did, and he’s got the video that defies both logic and gravity Continue Reading »

JUST over two years ago, Rhiannon Tracey was getting ready to celebrate her 21st birthday when she was told she would never walk again.

The Eltham vet nurse had just bought a car and had sent out invitations to her party when she flew to Bali for a holiday with her mother and best friend.

‘‘It was our usual girls’ trip away,’’ she says now. ‘‘It was my best friend’s birthday the night that it happened.’’

Tracey’s life changed that night when she dived into the resort swimming pool and broke her spine. ‘‘It was poorly lit and the signage was poor.’’ Continue Reading »

Many doctors still don’t adequately explain the anatomy of the spine, the reasons for a patient’s pain and the anticipated treatment plan. Here we will discuss the intricacies of spinal injuries and how a skilled personal injury attorney can help.

FISHKILL, NY, February 06, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ — How is a spine injury patient supposed to make an informed decision about his/her medical care if they don’t understand the basics about the spine? The problem isn’t as bad as it was a few decades ago, but many doctors still don’t adequately explain the anatomy of the spine, the reasons for a patient’s pain and the anticipated treatment plan when a patient goes to an orthopedist or neurosurgeon. Continue Reading »

I must admit that, the more I read about what stem cells — especially adult (or “tis-sue”) stem cells that are not under the current res-trictions on the use of embryonic stem cells — the more I am incredibly impressed at the growing successful results of the use of such stem cells, especially in trials where they have been so successful in research and testing results literally around the world. Continue Reading »

Sandra Burton would never feel the wrenching labour pains signaling her twin girls were ready to come into the world.

It was one of the many risks of her pregnancy, and the one that most worried her doctors and kept her husband awake at night.

Burton is quadriplegic.

An accident 20 years ago cost her the use of her legs and left her with minimal use of her arms. She has little sensation from the chest down.

It is rare for a quadriplegic woman to have a child. It is extraordinarily rare — and potentially life-threatening — for a quadriplegic woman to give birth to twins. Continue Reading »