Y Therapy

Exercises for Paraplegics Offered at Wheeling YMCA

WHEELING — Spending most of your life in a wheelchair might mean sitting idle for some folks. But not for George Adese.

Adese, 45, of Wheeling has been a Paraplegic for 24 years after sustaining a spinal cord injury. He joined the Chambers YMCA in Elm Grove a year ago and started his wellness program by participating in the “Silver Sneakers” class there geared to senior citizens and those with limited mobility.

“But a lot of the exercises they do include the legs,” he said. “I wasn’t able to do a lot of these, and I found myself feeling out of place much of the time with nothing to do.” Continue Reading »

Tiffany Jones battles back from tragic accident

Some people believe everything happens for a reason. Even a tragedy, difficult at first to comprehend, may leave the survivor feeling that he or she has a higher purpose. Tiffany Jones believes this. And her family is buoyed by the strength of her faith. But in the meantime, there is the reality to face.

Only two months after a terrible accident that may leave her paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair, 18-year-old Tiffany Jones has the fortitude of her faith and the boundless enthusiasm of youth to help her endure and give her hope. Her parents, Jeff and Lisa Jones of West Jefferson, are comforted by her amazingly positive attitude and this helps lift them from despair to do what they need to do on her behalf.

“She’s always been one who believes things happen for a reason,” said Tiffany’s mother, Lisa Jones. “That God is in control.” Continue Reading »

Kelly Brush- Skiing with a purpose

It would be understandable if Kelly Brush filled her days with what-ifs.

What if the fencing along the giant slalom course at Jiminy Peak had been better? What if the padding on the chair lift tower had been thicker? What if she hadn’t caught that edge?

But those questions don’t yield any substantive answers. They are part of a past that Brush, a senior at Middlebury College who was paralyzed in a ski racing accident two years ago, doesn’t see the need to dwell in.

Instead, Brush is focused on the future — her own and that of the sport she loves. Through the Kelly Brush Foundation, the 21-year-old is seeking to improve safety conditions and safety awareness in ski racing. Continue Reading »

Spinal cord survivors share stories

SIOUX CITY — One minute, Jon Schuetz was riding a motorcycle under a sunny Florida sky. The next minute, he was on the ground, crushed against a voltage box, with the cycle on top of him.

He couldn’t move.

Nathan Blum of Schaller, Iowa, was driving a semitrailer in Plymouth County when he reached for something and momentarily took his eyes off the road. The truck suddenly went off the highway and into a ditch.

Blum couldn’t move. Continue Reading »

Chariots of Destiny

“Chariots of Destiny”
is an organisation based in Nairobi, Kenya. It was started by Casey
Marenge to create a much-needed difference in the transport sector for
people living with physical disabilities.

After a tragic road accident left Casey quadriplegic [paralyzed from the shoulders down] , and fully dependent on a wheelchair,

Casey
saw the need to start Chariots of destiny with the aim to provide
wheelchair accessible vehicles that would facilitate in the
transportation of people on wheelchairs as well as those with physical
disabilities.

Sportaid.com

Sportaid has a large selection of everyday, sports and manual
wheelchair parts, Urological Products and accessories in the market.

Wheelchairs Site for Manual Sports Everyday Wheelchairs Supplies, Spox Wheels, Wheelchair Accessories, With Over 50 Years Of Customers Service.

We provide racing wheelchairs, rugby wheelchairs and all sorts of independent living resources including catheters and other urological supplies.

Segway helps disabled man more than wheelchair

My patient was bleeding profusely from the esophagus, and as a first-year gastroenterology fellow, I had been called in to the UCSF intensive care unit to stop it. We were successful. The next morning, Jan. 4, 2003, I went out for a bike ride – but never made it home.

In a freak accident, I was thrown headfirst over my handlebars and paralyzed from the shoulders down. At San Francisco General, my pulse and blood pressure crashed. The trauma team, my own colleagues, administered life-saving dopamine and rushed me to the ICU. I spent five days there, barely able to breathe, staring at my motionless limbs, powerless to will them to move.

Astoundingly, within days, I began regaining slight movements, first in my left leg, then my right. I was transferred to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, an elite spinal-cord injury treatment center, where I underwent intensive rehab. There, my recovery continued, and I slowly exceeded the expectations of my therapists. My progress kept optimism alive, as my left arm started to move, and then my recalcitrant right. Continue Reading »

9 Out Of 10 Patients Walk Again In Some Form With Device, Therapy

On average, it happens every hour of every day – someone suffers a spinal cord injury** that can leave them paralyzed for life. An innovative device from the Christopher Reeve Foundation is helping some patients get out of their wheelchairs and back on their feet.

Aaron Wolfe has lived in this wheelchair for more than two years – ever since a robber’s bullet hit his spine and paralyzed his legs. Now he spends every day trying to get out of it. Thanks to a new device, he’s doing it. Through the Dana and Christopher Reeve Foundation, Aaron is undergoing therapy at Ohio State University Medical Center. Here, a specialized device supports Aaron’s weight, while therapists move his legs for him on a treadmill. In a matter of months, Aaron has gone from a wheelchair to a walker. By continuing to use this machine, Aaron’s confident someday he’ll get out of his wheelchair for good.

“I could never really get much out of this left leg. Now, my left leg is firing. It steps with the right one now,” says Wolfe. Continue Reading »

The Tank Chair

Tank Chair is a Custom off-road wheelchair that can go anywhereoutdoors. Conquers Streams, Mud, Snow, Sand, and Gravel, allowing youto get back to nature, and can also climb up and down stairs. For every10 chairs sold, TankChair is going to donate one to a fire departmentin a rural area so that they can give it away to someone who would notnormally be able to afford one. The first is going to go to Parker FireDepartment in Arizona.

Medical Marvel

Doctors can’t explain why Pat Rummerfield is able to run marathons and race cars. Even so, there are scores of quadriplegics who long to follow in his footsteps.

WITH LITTLE FANFARE, Pat Rummerfield strides through the outpatient clinic at Kennedy Krieger Institute’s International Center for Spinal Cord Injury in Baltimore. He’s a non-physician making his rounds, checking on the quadriplegics and paraplegics who find inspiration in his every step.

He ducks into a side room where Robby Beckman is immersed in a tank of chest-high water. At the bottom of the tank is a wide rubber belt that scrolls like a treadmill. Thanks to the buoyant properties of the Hydro Track, Beckman can practice ambulating on his own. Keep those heels down. Don’t drag the toes on that right foot. It’s tough going, like wading through melted caramel. Continue Reading »