Monthly Archives: June 2006
Raised cash for injured veterans
A spinal-cord injury from the Korean War left Donald Taylor with only limited use of his legs and arms. But that did not stop him from reaching out to other disabled veterans.
He started an annual Cigar Night at an Italian restaurant that — over the past decade — raised more than $300,000 for the nonprofit Paralyzed Veterans Association of Florida
Life with a spinal cord injury
Hamden resident Jon Sigworth, 19, who sustained a spinal cord injury during a recent visit to India, has rapidly become a legend in his community.
Whereas many people would recoil at the thought of having to use a wheel chair for the rest of their lives he, instead, has turned a negative set of circumstances into a positive one.
Different Stem Cell Treatments Both Produce Results for Two Similar Patients in China
‘A Tale of Two Similar Spinal Cord Injury Patients’
SHENZHEN, China, June 28 /PRNewswire/ — Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co., Ltd. announced the successful treatment of two similar spinal cord injury patients using two different procedures that involved umbilical cord stem cells. One method involved surgical transplantation of stem cells directly into the spinal cord, while the other patient received the stem cells without surgery. The announcement was made following a two-month Rehabilitation and evaluation period by physicians in the patients’ native countries of the U.S.A. and Romania.
USC seeks volunteers for spinal cord injury rehabilitation study
(Columbia) June 26, 2006 – The University of South Carolinas Arnold School of Public Health is seeking volunteers for a study examining the effects of a two-week intensive treatment program on walking, balance, and mobility for individuals with spinal cord injury.
A news release says the study combines two Rehabilitation techniques to form a new therapy, known as Intensive Mobility Training.
Christopher Reeve Foundation Announces the Launch of SupermanTag.org
Tags Favored by Hollywood Trendsetters Now Available on Official Website
SHORT HILLS, N.J., June 26 /PRNewswire/ — The Christopher Reeve Foundation (CRF) today announced the launch of www.SupermanTag.org, the official website of the year’s hottest philanthropy-based jewelry, the Superman Tag. These dog tags engraved with the official Superman S-Shield bear the Foundation’s tagline, “Go Forward” — words that reflect Christopher’s belief that to overcome any adversity in your life, no matter how challenging, you need to Go Forward each day with strength, determination and courage.
A SUPERMAN TO YOU, A SON TO HER
Years ago, when Barbara L. Johnson talked to friends about her son Christopher Reeve and his plans to pursue an acting career, her response was usually this:
“People would say, ‘You don’t really want him to go into this awful profession, do you?’ To which I would say, ‘I can no more stop him than I could stop a train!’ ”
Johnson, who lives in Princeton and is a retired journalist — she covered numerous beats for the Town Topics weekly newspaper from 1975 until 1997 — was reminded that she had made a pun on her son’s most famous movie, “Superman,” and she laughed heartily.
Remaking the connection
After suffering a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him from the chest down, 13-year-old Matthew Sanford coped by distancing himself from his body.
During painful medical procedures he would imagine himself floating out of his body to escape. At one point, he wished his legs could be amputated because he considered them dead weight.
For years after the car accident, Sanford considered his body as something he lugged around. As a survival tool, he disconnected his mind from his body.
Focus on Independence Gives Sight to Quadriplegics
Innovative Program Is Aimed At Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Patients
Los Angeles, Ca.(PRWEB) June 22, 2006 — Two well known U.S. Refractive Surgeons have teamed up to launch Focus On Independence in which eye surgeons provide free LASIK or vision correction surgery for quadriplegics. Robert K. Maloney of Los Angeles and Daniel Durrie of Kansas City have enlisted up to 40 surgeons around the country in the program which is intended for patients over the age of 18 who have suffered spinal cord injury and have lost the use of their hands and/or arms, making it difficult or impossible to take off their glasses or contacts without assistance.
Disability doesn’t keep this sailor ashore
Any sailor will tell you that being out on the water can be an escape from your problems ashore.
For Curt Leatherbee, sailing is especially freeing.
“It’s just a way to get out of the wheelchair,” said the 48-year-old Portsmouth resident, who is paralyzed from the breastbone down.
“And,” he said, his eyes brightening, “the racing is kind of exhilarating.”
Stem Cells Help Repair Paralysis in Mice; A Recipe for Humans?
(Bloomberg) — Scientists have used embryonic stem cells to restore function in the legs of paralyzed mice, raising hopes they may some day achieve the same result in humans.
In the study, stem cells taken from mouse embryos were chemically transformed in a lab into Motor neurons, cells that carry impulses from the brain and spinal cord to receptors in the muscles.
