Paraplegic turns trailblazer

It’s 4.5 hard miles down the Bright Angel Trail to Indian Garden, not far above the floor of the Grand Canyon, and 4.5 even tougher miles back up to the top.

The trail is so challenging that it’s generally been thought that no paralyzed person would ever make the breathtakingly beautiful but physically demanding trip.

Until now.

Sarah Service, a 22-year-old Paraplegic from Owen County, made the round trip earlier this month, wheeled down the rugged trail and back in a special cart, pushed and pulled by some family members and hardy volunteers, sponsored by Easter Seals of Kentucky and Cardinal Hill Healthcare Systems. Continue Reading »

Warnings about stem cell therapy tourism

MARK COLVIN: Australian scientists are worried about what they describe as a growing industry of stem cell tourism.

More and more people suffering spinal cord injuries, paralysis, cancer and other conditions are travelling to India and China for stem cell treatment.

One Indian Doctor who offers foreign patients embryonic stem cell therapy is speaking at a fundraising event in Melbourne tomorrow night. Continue Reading »

Mind power moves paralysed limbs

Scientists have shown it is possible to harness brain signals and redirect them to make paralysed limbs move.

The technology bypasses injuries that stop nerve signals travelling from the brain to the muscles, offering hope for people with spinal damage.

So far the US team from the University of Washington have only tested their “brain-machine interfaces” in monkeys.

The hope is to develop implantable circuits for humans without the need for robotic limbs, Nature reports. Continue Reading »

Grand Lake teen readjusts to life at home after nearly fatal car accident

As he was growing up in Grand Lake, everybody knew Zack Peterson as the kid with the big smile and the tousled blond hair who was a good athlete and a great guy.

When you meet him today, he’s still all of those things with one addition. He’s now in a wheelchair.

Zack, who graduated from Middle Park High School in May, was involved in a single-car accident just after midnight on Sunday, July 13. He fell asleep behind the wheel while returning from a trip to Denver and crashed on U.S. Highway 34, a few miles short of his home. Continue Reading »

U.S. Sen. Harkin- Statement Regarding the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D- IA) delivered the following remarks yesterday on the floor of the Senate urging the adoption of S. 1183, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act.

The text of the speech is below.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor with a heavy heart and a clear purpose. Last Thursday would have been the 56th birthday of a great actor, a devoted father and husband, Christopher Reeve. Many Americans got to know Christopher Reeve when he put on that blue and red uniform of Superman and acted in so many Superman roles. He was also on television and stage. So we always think of Christopher Reeve as the first Superman. Continue Reading »

Incredible Athletes

This time of year brings an incredible group of athletes to North Central Washington, but it is not likely that you have ever heard of them by name. To get an idea of what they do, you would have to spend a day or two in a wheelchair. Seriously, you should try it some time, maybe for just a few hours. Try to go without using your legs for an entire day if you really want to know what it takes to get from point A to point B by using your arms alone. Then imagine powering yourself from Lincoln Rock Park to Rocky Reach Dam, across the river, up over Navarre Coulee, through Chelan, up to Wells Dam, and back to Lincoln Rock on a bicycle built for arms. That is just what some of the wheelchair athletes riding the Dam2Dam www.Dam2Dam.org did this weekend! Continue Reading »

Paraplegic balloon pilot hasn’t let injury ground him

KAYSVILLE – Michael Glen hasn’t let a Disability tether his dreams.
Like his father, Glen wanted to be a hot air balloon pilot. But after a car accident left him paralyzed with a spinal cord injury, the Federal Aviation Administration said no to a license because he was in a wheelchair.

“I wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Glen said. “When the FAA denied me, I decided to go out and prove I could.”

In April 2006, he was granted a license. Continue Reading »

Injured hockey player fighting his way back

Ben Stear struggles to hold his cell phone in his hands; his fingers just won’t cooperate.

Dialing a number, text messaging and listening to his iPod — activities once second nature for the 15-year-old — have become a major struggle.

“This is easily the worst time of my life,” said Ben, as he sits in the cafeteria of Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia on a recent Friday afternoon. Continue Reading »

Stimulator Helps Spinal Cord Patients Take Giant Steps

theDevice Helps Paralyzed Pull Ankle, Toe Upwards

Eleven-thousand people in the United States suffer from spinal cord injuries each year.

Men are more at risk than women for this type of injury, accounting for 80 percent of them. Those between the ages of 16 and 30 are most likely to suffer such an injury. Most of the time, a spinal cord injury will result in permanent paralysis and loss of sensation below the area of the spine where the injury took place.

A quadriplegic or tetraplegic is paralyzed throughout most of their body, including their arms and legs while only the lower body of a Paraplegic is paralyzed. Continue Reading »

Where Are They Now- Mike Utley

Sense of adventure, sense of humor survived crippling injury

Mike Utley went deaf in his right ear while having dinner in January. He was robbed of equilibrium and made so sick he had to seek a doctor the next day. He traded partial hearing for a nonstop fire alarm that still reverberates in his head.

This was nothing more than piling on for the former Washington State and Detroit Lions football player, left a quadriplegic nearly 17 years ago when the offensive guard suffered a spinal cord injury while slammed to the ground on a pass-blocking play.

The latest setback was another reason for Utley to feel sorry for himself, though that never happened. Continue Reading »