ATLANTA (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Every year, spinal cord injuries force more than 11,000 people into a wheelchair. In the most serious cases, just taking a breath on their own is impossible. Patients often rely on cumbersome mechanical ventilators to stay alive, but a new device may free patients from the ventilators and help them breathe on their own.
A year ago, paramedics rushed Jenny Sorenson to the ER. She thought she was having a heart attack. Continue Reading »
It was the early 1980s, and Robb Dunfield, 19, was ready to celebrate the first night of summer with his friends in Vancouver’s Spanish Banks.
Looking for a high spot to watch a flotilla of tall ships in the dimming light, they climbed up to the third floor of a condo under construction, and were ready to settle into an unfinished balcony.
The two-by-four that was the railing, attached to the skeletal building by two nails, gave way as his two friends put their weight on it. Continue Reading »
BLOOMINGTON — A Bloomington mother convicted of child endangerment for allowing her daughter to drive without a license was ordered to serve one day in jail and pay $1 million in restitution to the family of a 15-year-old boy confined to a wheelchair since the girl ran over him in September.
Stephanie Uzueta, 39, and her daughter Emily Uzueta, now 16, were in court on charges relating to an accident that critically injured Brandon Major, of Bloomington. Continue Reading »
WALLED LAKE – From great adversity, heroes can emerge. They then can inspire and lead others to become more than they ever imagined. Walled Lake Central High School physical education teacher Kirk Pedersen, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury Oct. 25 when he fell out of a tree stand and broke his neck, is considered a hero by staff and the 1,600 students at the school where he has taught for four years.
Pedersen, 38, of Northville and a graduate of Eastern Michigan University, was transferred from a facility in Louisville, Ky., on March 25 to the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids. Continue Reading »
Surviving a spinal cord injury is something to be thankful for, but it’s still devastating.
For one New Yorker, an accident changed his life forever – but a new device is helping him regain his independence.
Spinal cord injuries not only affect a person’s ability to move – they can also hamper patients’ ability to breathe. When that happens, patients are required to be attached to a bulky ventilator at all times.
Now, though, a device is helping one spinal injury victim get off the machine and breathe easier.
For 31-year-old semi-pro football player Jamal Davis, one tackle changed his life forever. Continue Reading »
Brooke Rallis came to the University of New Hampshire in high hopes of being considered an equal among the thousands of freshmen.
Standing at 5 feet 3 inches with her crutches, Rallis underestimated the tribulations that would come with a large-walking campus in the New England Region.
In June 2006, when she was 16 years old, Rallis was just like any other teenager. As she played a game one day, a game like “Simon Says,” she was told to “hit the deck” and ended up falling forward and tore an artery in her neck, which resulted in a blood clot and stopped the blood flow to her spinal cord. Continue Reading »
Published: February 25, 2009 | Category: Information
Dr. Ragnarsson is a physiatrist (specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation) and professor and chairman of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Mount Sinai. Since 1971, he has been treating patients with physical disability. He oversees the treatment of almost 2,000 patients admitted each year with new disability which may be the result of spinal cord or brain injury, stroke or amputation. Continue Reading »
Eleven seconds was all it took to change Travis Roy’s life.
As a freshman at Boston University in 1995, Roy lived his dream of playing hockey for the Terriers, earning a full scholarship after playing two seasons at Tabor Academy in Marion. His dream was quickly shattered when he crashed head first into the boards during his first collegiate game, leaving him a quadriplegic.
“First year, first game, first shift,” said Roy via phone from his home in Boston recently. “My career lasted 11 seconds.” Continue Reading »
SOMETIME SOON, perhaps even this week, President Barack Obama is expected to lift federal regulations on the use of embryonic stem cells in medical research.
With recently awarded FDA approval, a California biotech firm sits poised to begin the world’s first human trial that will involve injecting embryonic stem cells into the spinal cords of people who are paralyzed. Continue Reading »
Loading ...
ATLANTA (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Every year, spinal cord injuries force more than 11,000 people into a wheelchair. In the most serious cases, just taking a breath on their own is impossible. Patients often rely on cumbersome mechanical ventilators to stay alive, but a new device may free patients from the ventilators and help them breathe on their own.
It was the early 1980s, and Robb Dunfield, 19, was ready to celebrate the first night of summer with his friends in Vancouver’s Spanish Banks.
WALLED LAKE – From great adversity, heroes can emerge. They then can inspire and lead others to become more than they ever imagined. Walled Lake Central High School physical education teacher Kirk Pedersen, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury Oct. 25 when he fell out of a tree stand and broke his neck, is considered a hero by staff and the 1,600 students at the school where he has taught for four years.
Dr. Ragnarsson is a physiatrist (specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation) and professor and chairman of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Mount Sinai. Since 1971, he has been treating patients with physical disability. He oversees the treatment of almost 2,000 patients admitted each year with new disability which may be the result of spinal cord or brain injury, stroke or amputation. 
Eleven seconds was all it took to change Travis Roy’s life.