Paralyzed at her bachelorette party, bride to marry Friday

She’ll wear the same dress at the ceremony one year after tragic accident

RALEIGH, N.C. — A year after she was paralyzed in poolside horseplay at her bachelorette party, Rachelle Friedman knows one thing she would change about her life before the injury.

“I wish we had danced together more because I love dancing so much, and we didn’t do it enough,” she says of her soon-to-be husband. “Looking back, I would have done it every night.”

Friedman will finally make it down the aisle on Friday, marrying the man who has waited with her to exchange vows since the accident. She is wearing the same gown she chose for the first ceremony but with her father pushing her wheelchair down the aisle instead of walking her down it, arm in arm. Continue Reading »

Paralysed biker Karen spreads her message of hope

HANDCYCLIST and paralympic hopeful Karen Darke ended an awareness-raising tour in Sheffield – where she inspired patients with a message of hope for the future.

Karen’s four-day tour of spinal cord injuries centres in the north of England had begun at The James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough and called at the Spinal Injuries Centre at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield – where Karen was herself treated – before finishing at the Princess Royal Spinal Cord Injuries Centre at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital.

Sheffield firm B Braun Medical was Karen’s sponsorship partner for the initiative and around 20 Braun employees also took to their bikes to join her during various stages of the event. Continue Reading »

Renner Gives High Hopes to those with Disabilities

In the Dawson Building at Auburn University, Scott Renner can be found working long hours at the Center for Disability Research and Services. Continue Reading »

Cooking with Cory

In the face of adversity, Cory Parsons not only committed himself to his recovery, but to helping others similarly reach for their dreams.

A motivational speaker, sports advocate and athlete, the Nanaimo resident has recently added cookbook author to his list of titles.

More than just a cookbook, Cooking with Cory: Inspirational Recipes for the Fearless Cook (published by North Vancouver’s Whitecap Books), references Parsons’ personal story of resilience. Twelve years ago, his life took a turn when, at age 23, he had a diving accident. While he’s come to terms with his life-changing spinal injury and made incredible gains, it’s been a tough road. Continue Reading »

Weightlifting helps spinal-cord-injured man rebuild body, confidence

John Lee likes to brag about Paul Jones, one of his clients at the gym he operates in back of his home in East Memphis.

“Paul is the strongest bench presser I have,” Lee says of the 27-year-old former college student who routinely hoists and pumps 70-pound dumbbells, one in each hand, during their regular workouts.

Lots of young men can lift weights, but few are like Jones, who has been paralyzed below the chest and able to move only his arms since October 2008. Continue Reading »

Milnrow man lands star role in TV soap

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 »

Paralyzed Windsor bride-to-be determined to walk down the aisle

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 »

The Site That Breathes

“Life is not measured by the number breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” This quote has two meanings for me. The first meaning is exactly how it’s stated. The second is a literal and personal meaning. Life is not measured by the number breaths I take, which happens to be 18 breaths a minute, but by the moment that took my breath away. On November 1, 2002 I was in a car accident. I broke my neck at C1 C2 and injured my spinal cord. Continue Reading »

Kelly Brush Foundation Awards $45K for Adaptive Sports Equipment

Inspiration Awards Enhance the Lives of Those With SCI

BURLINGTON, Vt. (Dec. 16, 2010) –The Kelly Brush Foundation awarded $45,000 in Kelly Brush Inspiration Grants for adaptive sports equipment to recipients from Maine to California, Executive Director Joyce Wallace announced.

In all, 14 individuals from across the United States who are living with spinal cord injury (SCI) received grants for adaptive equipment including monoskis and handcyles. Continue Reading »

Living proof: do not see a victim, look instead at an inspiration

Shot the breeze with Matt Hampson the other day. We talked rugby, films, football, music, books — precisely the things you would expect when bantering with an archetypal 26-year-old. We discussed Martin Johnson, his hero, debated the technique and tactics of scrummaging and pondered England’s hopes at next year’s World Cup. Continue Reading »