Monthly Archives: November 2009
Quadriplegic man wins gun permit to go hunting again
Resident James Cap, a quadriplegic after a spinal cord injury in 1979, was granted permission in Superior Court on Nov. 10 to obtain a permit to carry a firearm provided it is locked in a safe when not being used and another licensed person works with him when he uses it.
”I am very happy and elated,” Mr. Cap said of the resolution to the appeal. “It has been a two-and-a-half year wait. I felt discriminated against.”
Pushing the Brain to Find New Pathways
Until recently, scientists believed that, following a stroke, a patient had about six months to regain any lost function. After that, patients would be forced to compensate for the lost function by focusing on their remaining abilities. Although this belief has been refuted, a University of Missouri occupational therapy professor believes that the current health system is still not giving patients enough time to recover and underestimating what the human brain can do given the right conditions.
Shooting victim urges youths to ‘think first’
Wilberto “Tony” Rivera knows what it’s like to have life turned upside down in a matter of seconds.
One minute, he said, he was dealing drugs at age 23 on Indianapolis’ Westside. The next minute, he was shot in the back. He ended up paralyzed below the chest.
Now 36, Rivera is determined to keep Indiana youths from taking the same risks he did.
Spinal cord injury a staunch foe
Therese Riedel is battling back from a spinal cord injury she suffered in September 2008.
SAN DIEGO – Growing up in La Mesa and playing basketball at Grossmont High, Therese Riedel spent as much time as she could on San Diego’s beaches.
She even saved up a handful of paychecks from her first job to buy a custom surfboard with a basketball court and her jersey number painted on it.
From service dog to SURFice dog
Adult Stem Cells Saved My Life
Imagine a tragic automobile accident that leaves a young girl a quadriplegic. Imagine a young mother of two who discovers that a disease is ravaging her body and turning her vital organs into stone. Imagine a young baby who is dying from sickle cell anemia.
These are haunting images. They capture our minds and rend our hearts. Yet in each case, there is a remarkably happy ending.
One more miracle for Margaret
This is another in a long line of Miracles for Margaret.
Margaret Romph received her FES rehabilitation bike through insurance and can now begin an integral part of her rehabilitation in the comfort of her newly remodeled rehabilitation room.
Earlier this year, Margaret, her older sister Erin and their grandmother were involved in a serious accident, just outside of the Jefferson City city limits.
Project Walk trip is step in right direction
Elkridge woman vows to return to her feet
Perneita Farrar’s dream is to walk again, and to do it in her beloved high heels.
“One day, I’m going to walk in these shoes,” she said of her 100 or so pairs of heels. “I don’t want to be wearing orthopedic shoes.”
The 36-year-old Elkridge woman, a self-described “girly girl” who uses a wheelchair because of a spinal cord injury, is working toward that goal as she prepares to travel to California in December to participate in an exercise-based rehabilitation program.
VA to break ground on $90M spinal cord injury center
Syracuse, N.Y. — The Syracuse VA Medical Center will break ground Friday on its long-awaited six-story Spinal Cord Injury/Disease Center.
The facility will serve veterans across Upstate New York who now travel to New York City or out of state to get spinal cord care.
“This will provide the kind of service that so many of our veterans coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq need now,” said VA spokesman Gordon Sclar.
Kids grant small wishes for paralyzed veterans in Palo Alto
After four years in the same bed at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto, Tom Parks said he welcomes a break from the routine.
All the better if the break involves fried scallops.
That’s what he got Wednesday morning when about two dozen students from JLS Middle School used their Veterans Day holiday to bring gifts and sing to paralyzed vets in the VA Palo Alto Health Care System’s spinal cord injury unit. The students were among more than 100 who helped out at six local organizations as part of a family service day organized by the JLS PTA and the nonprofit Youth Community Services.
