Spinal-injury patients yearn for local rehab

Special care requires out-of-town trip

Tony Nickolite was 26 when his life changed forever.

The Sylvania Township man was living on his own in Nebraska, going to school, working, and helping raise a young daughter when he was thrown out of his vehicle during a rollover crash. The impact left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Three years later, he has moved in with his parents and spends most of his time in a wheelchair. What he finds he needs most, he said, is someone to understand and a place to give him hope. Continue Reading »

Former player Marc Buoniconti relates to Tulane safety Devon Walker’s condition

Marc Buoniconti knows first-hand the pain a spinal cord injury can cause. In 1985, as a linebacker for The Citadel, he suffered a cervical spine injury like Tulane’s Devon Walker did last weekend against Tulsa.

Buoniconti said he saw Walker’s injury and believes he can recover.

“I saw the play. His arms and legs did not go limp,” said Buoniconti, who was paralyzed from the shoulders down and spent the seven months after his injury on a respirator. “So I feel that if he has an incomplete injury that his chance of recovery can dramatically increase.” Continue Reading »

The Can-Do American Spirit: The Incredible Journey of Mark Stephan

In the tough times this country is currently navigating, there are plenty of tales of woe and despair to go around.

However, there are certain inspirational people who somehow manage to rise above the obstacles thrown at them with grace, toughness, and unbelievable courage, turning almost unimaginable adversity into incredible inspiration. Call it the triumph of the American spirit.

My old friend Mark Stephan is the personification of such triumph. Five years ago, a morning bike ride turned into a disaster when the front wheel of Mark’s bike fell off, hurtling him head first into the pavement, instantly leaving him a quadriplegic after suffering the same type of neck injury as the late actor Christopher Reeve. The initial prognosis was grim. Continue Reading »

Website gives disabled needed info

‘Sneak Previews’ creator uses her skills in TV to aid those with spinal injuries

They are the faces and voices of survivors, answering important and sometimes personal questions about their life’s adjustments in short video segments.

There’s Steve, who became a paraplegic at age 23 in 2006, talking about the suicidal thoughts he had after he suffered a spinal cord injury. There’s Tony, who became a quadriplegic at age 27 in 1990, going into detail about his long rehabilitation process and sex after his injury.

And then there’s Carol Ann, whose son became a quadriplegic at age 20 in 1993, discussing the difficult first days after the injury, when she thought she’d lose her child. And there’s Lisa Rosen, a program manager for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, providing information about adjusting to life in a wheelchair. Continue Reading »