On March 13, 1991, while preparing for a motorcycle race competition, my bike collided with a rock and my life changed forever. I was airlifted to a Boston hospital, where the emergency room physician told me that I had severed my spinal cord and that I would never walk again.
I had been racing motorcycles for 11 years and had incurred numerous minor injuries, but I never thought I’d be permanently injured. I felt absolutely helpless, like there was no one in the world who could do anything to help. Continue Reading »
It’s a larger than life robot that’s working to improve balance and gait and teach children the right way to walk. The legs are specially designed for children.
It affects 8,000 babies every year — more than 750,000 kids and adults in the United States are living with cerebral palsy.
It’s a neurological condition that affects body movement and coordination. Many kids have to rely on a wheelchair or walker to get around, But now, technology is helping kids feel secure on their own two feet. Continue Reading »
The Back-Up Trust is a dynamic national charity that runs a range of services for people with spinal cord injury that actively encourage personal challenge, as well as help to build confidence, motivation and independence following a life changing injury. Continue Reading »
Michele Lee, 26, is a woman with a good job, an apartment in the city, a talent for painting and an independent, adventurous spirit. She doesn’t let being in a wheelchair keep her from enjoying being young and enjoying all the fruits the city of Chicago has to offer.
In 2003, two days before her graduation from the University of Arizona, Lee was in a car accident on her way to pick up her parents at the airport. Her C5 vertebra was fractured, resulting in, as she puts it matter-of-factly, “the whole paralysis thing.” She was left with no sensory or motor function in her legs and very little function in her arms and hands. Continue Reading »
Ali Stroker is a ball of energy. It is exhausting just being in the room with her. Ali came by our offices the other day for a meet and greet because she is going to be a Reeve Foundation Ambassador.
She is 21, and was paralyzed in a car accident at the age of 2. She just graduated from the Musical Theatre Conservatory at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She could be the next big thing on Broadway. Continue Reading »
“It’s all kind of freedom on those skis,” said Mark Bugha, 28, from Finleyville in Washington County. “It’s special for me because I never experienced that kind of freedom before.”
Mr. Bugha has cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder, and has used a wheelchair all his life.
“Any time he gets out of that chair, it’s good for his back,” said his mom, Norma. “He doesn’t feel disabled when he’s doing these things.”
This is the 19th year that Three Rivers Adaptive Sports has held a water skiing clinic at Conneaut Lake in Crawford County; it’s the 17th that Mr. Bugha has attended. Continue Reading »
The Magic Flute, a wind instrument which allows you to play music with head movement. The Magic Flute was originally designed as an adaptive musical instrument for people with little or no arm movement — with the goal of allowing people with a wide range of disabilities the ability to perform live electronic music that can be at the highest professional quality. It is also an exciting and rewarding way for people who have limited lung function to carry out Breathing Exercises that will never become tedious to them.
DAVIE, Fla. (AP) -The phone is ringing in Darrell Gwynn’s office, which is filled with reminders of a life that nearly ended two decades ago. From his windows, he sees cars being built and fiddled with in the garage, where stacks of racing tires are piled almost to the roof.
The former champion drag racer maneuvers his wheelchair toward the phone. With his right hand – his only hand – he pushes a button to lift the receiver an inch from the cradle. His wife is on the other end, they chat about lunch for a couple minutes, he presses the button again and the phone hangs up.
“Sorry,” Gwynn says, directing his chair away from the desk. “Important stuff.” Continue Reading »
An Australian first study will test live online rehabilitation with video gaming to give spinal cord injury patients the hope of regaining the movement of their hands.
The ReJoyce workstation is being used for the first time in Australia in tele-rehabilitation which allows patients to get real time specialist physiotherapy over the internet.
The patient wears a glove that enables electrical impulses to stimulate the muscles in the hand to grasp and release, in the hope of sprouting new connections in the spinal cord and re-establishing hand function. Continue Reading »
Grasping a cup of coffee and raising it to the mouth is a daily ritual most people take for granted. Yet, for those who have suffered a stroke or injury to the spinal cord, the task can be impossible to perform—until now.
Researchers and clinicians at Case Western Reserve University and partnering medical centers are developing devices that can restore movements such as grasping, standing, and even bladder control in some patients. The devices retrieve information from sensors implanted in muscles a patient can still move and indicate what type of movement the patient would like to perform.
The computer then sends out electrical signals to paralyzed muscles, instructing them to contract at the right moment. Continue Reading »
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On March 13, 1991, while preparing for a motorcycle race competition, my bike collided with a rock and my life changed forever. I was airlifted to a Boston hospital, where the emergency room physician told me that I had severed my spinal cord and that I would never walk again.
Michele Lee, 26, is a woman with a good job, an apartment in the city, a talent for painting and an independent, adventurous spirit. She doesn’t let being in a wheelchair keep her from enjoying being young and enjoying all the fruits the city of Chicago has to offer.
Ali Stroker is a ball of energy. It is exhausting just being in the room with her. Ali came by our offices the other day for a meet and greet because she is going to be a 
“It’s all kind of freedom on those skis,” said Mark Bugha, 28, from Finleyville in Washington County. “It’s special for me because I never experienced that kind of freedom before.”