Bengie the Dog and Wheelchair Stolen

Philadelphia Police are searching for the heartless thief who stole a wheelchair and a dog from a man who suffers from cerebral palsy.

The shocking theft happened at about 11 a.m. Thursday outside a convenience store located at 27th and Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia.

Warren Lloyd parked his motorized wheelchair outside the Yoscar Mini Market and went inside to get a sandwich. His dog was in a carrying case on the back of the wheelchair.

In the time it took Lloyd to go inside and pay for his food, the thief struck and made off with Lloyd's wheelchair and his dog Bengie.

"I use it every day, that's my way of getting around. I can't drive, I have cerebral palsy. That was my vehicle," Lloyd said.

Adding to the cruelness of the theft, neighbors said the suspect tried to sell the dog shortly after the theft.

Lloyd is pleading for the thief to return his dog and the wheelchair that is valued at approximately $3,000.

If you have any information regarding the theft, you are urged to contact the Philadelphia Police Department

Glee Dream On: Pitiful and Pathetic

'Glee's' Artie: Why Make Him a Pitiful Victim?
By Adam Wright

The Fox mega-hit "Glee" has made its mark this year. It’s one of television's biggest hits of the year. It’s the tale of a group of high school underdogs and their glee club.

One of those underdogs is Artie (played by Kevin McHale, below right). Artie is in a wheelchair because of a spinal-cord injury.

Adam Wright TVDoneWrightNow readers, when I first saw Artie’s character, I said, “FINALLY!” Not many of you know, but I’m also physically disabled. I am in a wheelchair (left), and it was so refreshing to see a fellow physically disabled person prominently featured in a hit show.

Artie has been a minor character for most of the series' first season, with the exception of the great episode entitled “Wheels,” where he was highlighted.

What we know about Artie, besides the obvious ride he has, is that he’s funny, smart and witty. He also has a love interest named Tina Cohen-Chang (played by Jenna Ushkowitz).

So far, the series managed to portray Artie in a way that was pretty good, I thought. Yes, it showed his struggles with his disability, but it didn’t make him look helpless or pathetic. It didn’t make him out to be the victim.

Until tonight…

Tonight’s episode entitled “Dream On” was about, guess what, dreams! And what was Artie's dream? To dance.

First problem here. Did they really need to make his dream so impossible? Trust me, it would be nice to dance and walk and run, but is it a dream? Heck no. One of the first things we learn is Artie Gleeknow one's limits. So why make Artie’s dream the one thing it’s impossible to obtain? Why not make his dream to become a movie star or singer or the next Hugh Hefner.

OK, I get it, they want to create a touching moment for the audience. Moving on.

Next we have Artie trying to stand up with Tina, with the help of arm crutches. He then suddenly collapses. A heartbreaking scene, yes, but it was followed by him just … lying there.

Lying there, helpless, the victim. Seriously? After all the struggles, all the things he’s been through, he’s just going to lie there?

That scene alone played on the audience's emotions, but in the wrong way. It made people feel sorry for Artie. Made him look like the victim, even pathetic.

more...

Another Rugby Player Goes Down

Delmar resident and rugby player Michael Jones suffered a severe spinal cord injury at a rugby tournament in Florida on February 27, 2010. A neurosurgeon called his wife, Lisa DeStafo Jones, to tell her the shocking news. He said, “This is a Christopher Reeve-type of injury,” an article in the Times Union reported. At age 44, Jones was healthy and vibrant, still able to knock around with the younger rugby players. Now, he battles to win back the health of his spine and the use of his body at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey with his grieving wife and his daughter Liliana.

Football and hockey organizations and officials have recently introduced new rules and protocols for preventing, identifying, and treating head and neck injuries. Part of that shift in awareness required the disillusion of the idea that it is a sign of manliness or toughness to go on playing after an injury. Rugby, while it has evolved over recent years, still does not have any sport-wide regulations for spinal cord and/or traumatic brain injuries.

In South Africa, rugby officials have started the BokSmart safety program, according to an Eyewitness News article. The program requires all coaches and referees to be certified by BokSmart beginning in January 2011. According to the South Africa Rugby information page on BokSmart, “The primary aim of BokSmart is to provide rugby coaches, referees, players, and administrators with the correct knowledge, skills, and leadership abilities to ensure that safety and best practice principles are incorporated into all aspects of contact rugby in South Africa.”

Regardless of any changes of rules or protocols, training of coaches and referees, and attempts to make the game safer, part of what defines rugby is the toughness required by its players. No helmet and no pads have become a hallmark of the game and one of the main differences between rugby and football.

Rugby players from around the world have shown Michael Jones support the same way they might during a game. “Low and tight, Brother Jones! Low and tight. Keep on pushin’ the pack is with you. All good stuff to you,” one supporter wrote. Another said, “JonesyStoke the fire my friend. Use your strong heart and passion to keep going forward. You’ve got a strong pack in support…and backs too!” according to the Times Union article. We wish Michael Jones a full recovery.

more...

Wheelchairs Not Safe to Ride

Most wheelchairs not made to withstand car crashes

Questions and answers about wheelchairs and seat belts on buses:

Q: How safe is it to ride in a wheelchair in automobiles?

A: Wheelchair safety researchers say that riding in a wheelchair designed primarily for mobility is more dangerous than being in a car seat because most wheelchairs and scooters on the market aren't made to withstand the forces in an auto accident.

Q: So what's the best way to ride?

A: Researchers recommend moving the person from the wheelchair to a seat inside a bus or van. If that's not possible, crash-tested restraints should be used for both wheelchair and rider. They also say it's best to buy wheelchairs that meet voluntary industry standards for safety. Details can be found at http://www.rercwts.org.

Q: Why don't most buses have seat belts?

A: Bus companies say their high-back seats are safe and designed to protect passengers. Mandatory seat belt laws in most states apply only to passenger cars or people in the front seat, but there are six states that do require belts on school buses.

Q: What do regulators say?

A: The National Transportation Safety Board began recommending belts and other safety features on long-distance buses decades ago. It said a lack of seat belts was a factor in the deaths of five members of Ohio's Bluffton University baseball team, whose bus plunged from an Atlanta highway overpass in 2007. That led the father of one of the players killed to lobby Congress to require changes designed to prevent passengers from being thrown out windows and strengthen bus roofs.

Q: Why weren't changes made?

A: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration resisted calls for seat belts on buses for years, siding with bus industry leaders. They didn't move on the proposals until the Obama administration ordered a safety review after two crashes killed passengers who were thrown from buses.

Q: Does that mean changes are coming?

A: Several deadly bus wrecks in the past three years were enough to lead Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to announce in November that the NHTSA later this year will propose requirements for seat belts on long-distance motor coaches.

more...

No More Therapy Dogs: Bring on the Hot Therapy Girlfriend

They had the day off, and the eight camp counselors were taking a break from a canoe trip down the Saco River in southern Maine last July. One of them, Zack Weinstein, began jogging downhill about 15 feet from shore. When Zack reached the water, he stepped into the locked hands of his friend, who gave Zack a boost as he jumped into the air.

It was the last time Zack had control over his own body.

Meeting Zack, 20, for the first time, you're not really sure how to greet him. He uses the controls on his motorized wheelchair to approach you. He smiles. You smile. Then he nimbly stretches out both hands to shake your hand.

It's a soft handshake, one that he cannot feel. But going through the motion breaks down a barrier.

Beside his bed is a laptop computer and a headset that allows him to provide voice commands. From that computer he has started an unusual process: healing by blog. Zack started an online journal in July while at a rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta. The postings, available to anyone with Internet access at zackweinstein.org, provide a raw look at the joy of opening a candy wrapper again and the frustration of not having control over bowel movements.

Some site visitors have injuries, some none at all. Many of them Zack doesn't even know. One person had a similar spinal cord injury a year before, and he's now back at college. He and Zack e-mail and talk on the phone.

''It's hard enough for me anyways," Zack said. ''I can't imagine what it would be like without all the technology."
  
'Standard issue girlfriend'
''I truly believe that every patient should be provided with a standard issue girlfriend," he wrote last year. ''Maybe the patient could choose the type of girlfriend that they would feel most comfortable with. For example: hair color, age, height, race, nationality, size of . . . um . . . well use your imagination. Obviously I would choose a blond, 22-year-old, 5 ft. 5 white girl from England."

Zack met Anna-Maija Webb at the summer camp. They were both counselors and connected over similar interests in drama and music.

They both took it as a summer fling (''I didn't even know her last name," Zack said). After camp, Zack was going back to college and Anna-Maija (pronounced: Mai-ya), who had just graduated from drama school in England, was going to be a nanny in the United States for a few years before going back.

Three weeks after they met, though, Zack was paralyzed.

Did Anna-Maija feel like she had to stick around?

''Not at all," she said.

Her brother was living in Atlanta, 15 minutes from the Shepherd Center, where Zack went for several weeks for rehabilitation. So she stayed with Zack. One week became two, then three. Next thing she knew, she was living with Zack's family in Needham.

''I don't know. It's really strange," Anna-Maija said. ''I don't even know what to say about it. I hadn't planned it."

She bristles at the notion that she enjoys taking care of him.

''I hate the whole mothering aspect, and it has nothing to do with it," she said. ''He gives me as much back as I give him."

Their dates are low-key, they say, and often consist of dinner and a movie.

They watched all of the Oscar-nominated movies, and she tries to persuade Zack to watch ''Desperate Housewives" with her.

''We're serious about each other," she said. ''But we're practical as well."

They're still at the stage in a relationship where they stare into each other's eyes with dreamy smiles.

''She still thinks I'm cute," he said, offering a big, toothy smile.

''Yes. I do," she said.

more...

Gleeful Spinal Cord Injury Guy to Play Spinal Cord Injury Guy

Actor Zack Weinstein will be appearing in next week's episode of hit television show GLEE. What makes the appearance stand out is that, unlike Kevin McHale - who plays GLEE's wheelchair-bound character "Artie Abrams" - Weinstein faces disabilities on a daily basis. The actor became paralyzed during a canoeing trip in college. While he was left with only the use of most of his upper body, leaving him unable to use his hands or legs, Weinstein has fought to continue his dream of acting.

In a recent profile in the NY Post, Weinstein shared about his appearance on GLEE: "The part was written for a character with a spinal cord injury similar to mine. It's very well-written and truthful to what I've experienced." The actor adds, "Everyone on set was great, and I had a blast! It was 12 straight hours of filming two scenes for five minutes of airtime."

Fox describes the episode, "Rachel panics when a sore throat affects her singing; Kurt tries to change his persona to impress his father); and Puck makes a strategic move to elevate his social status."

While Weinstein cannot discuss the specifics of his episode, the Post suggests that the performer might have a duet with GLEE star, and Broadway favorite, Lea Michele.

"The way it's written, there's a chance I could be called back," he adds hopefully.

"My goal is just to be a working actor - it's what I love to do." He paused and then said shyly, "And I think I'm pretty good at it, too."

more...

Your Top Ten List

Here's the official list of the Top 10 Things that Annoy People who use Wheelchairs:

1.	Able-bodied people parking in accessible parking spaces	37%
2.	Accessible bathroom stalls being used by an able-bodied person	12%
3.	Talking over my head as if I'm not here	9%
4.	Continuing to insist on helping me after I've said no thanks	8.3%
5.	Congratulating me for things like going to the grocery store like it's worthy of an Olympic medal	6.1%
6.	Strangers asking what happened to me	5.7%
7.	Not inviting me to an event because you are protecting me from some frustration (let me figure it out)	5.3%
8.	Patting me on my head. Don't.	5.0%
9.	Holding on to the back of my chair so I can't move	4.4%
10.	Speaking slowly to me because I'm in a wheelchair	3.5%

more...

Good to be Alive

Stephen Hawkins Warns: Wheelchair Users at Greater Risk from Aliens

After years of sarcastically telling us that ET isn't going to come down and shoot us with his ray gun Mr Hawking has done an about face.

For years Hawking has told us how the Universe worked and in his spare time has watched science fiction movies. After a series of real life discoveries of super tough microbes Hawking would come into work stressed out that the science fiction writers knew more about the stars than he did!

After last weeks discovery of an Anaerobic Metazoan at the bottom of the Mediteranian Hawking has finally hit the panic button. There must be millions of species up there and its easy to see how cunning and greedy they could become when you take a look at Al Gore.

"They're especially after me, rants Hawking. With me in my wheelchair they can wheel me away, eat me for dinner and melt down my wheelchair for raw materials. They just can't get enough of my body," emphasised the learned Professor.

more...

Rise Up From Your Chairs

Cialis boosts sex after spinal cord injuries

The impotence pill Cialis appears to work even in men with spinal cord injuries, French researchers said on Monday.

Impotence often follows spinal cord injuries. Only about 25 percent of men with such injuries are capable of having sex, Dr. Francois Giuliano and colleagues at the Raymond Poincare Hospital in Garches, France said.

They found that Cialis tripled the number of times the men could have sex.

Their study, funded by Eli Lilly and Co, maker of tadalafil or Cialis, involved 197 men with an average age of 38 in France, Germany, Italy and Spain with spinal cord injuries.

After a one-month waiting period, in which no one got treatment, a questionnaire to assess sexual function found both groups had moderate erectile dysfunction, Giuliano's team reported in the Archives of Neurology.

Then 142 men were assigned to the Cialis group and 44 got a placebo for a 12-week period, taking no more than one pill daily as needed before sexual activity.

After 4 months, men taking Cialis were successful nearly half the time they attempted intercourse, while men in the placebo group succeeded only 16.8 percent of the time.

Cialis and similar drugs work by increasing blood flow to the genitals.

The researchers said the Cialis study achieved success similar to that found in studies of Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra or sildenafil and Glaxosmithkline Plc's Levitra or vardenafil, all of which improved erections in men with impotence after spinal cord injury.

Trampolines, 2nd Only to Guns

It's peak season for trampoline injuries, most of which are minor bumps and bruises. But some people have been paralyzed and even killed on these backyard entertainment devices.

"Early Show" Consumer Correspondent Susan Koeppen reported there's a right way and a wrong way to jump on a trampoline. She said you should always jump in the middle, and only one person at a time.

Trampoline injuries led to 98,000 trips to the emergency room last year alone. Children are the most frequent victims, but adults are also getting hurt, sometimes with devastating consequences.

Yet Another Trampoline Accident - Watch more Funny Videos
Koeppen shared the cautionary tale of Ryne Cleary, who was just 5 years old when he got his backyard trampoline. It was one of the many outdoor activities he enjoyed with his dad, Kevin. Now all Kevin Cleary can do is watch his son play ball, all because of a wrong move on the family's trampoline.

Koeppen asked Ryne, "You blame yourself for what happened?"

Ryne replied, "Yes."

Koppen offered, "Because you asked him to do a back flip?"

Ryne answered, "He asked, I said, 'yes.'"

Kevin landed the back flip once, but on the second try, he says he came up short.

He told Koeppen, "I'm not too sure how, but I landed basically on my forehead."

Kevin suffered a severe spinal cord injury, and is now paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Kevin told Koppen he instantly knew something was wrong.

"I can to this day hear the crack."

more...

The Most Annoying Sign

Salamanders, Lobsters, Now Silk Worms

Silk brain implant could aid spinal injuries, epilepsy

A brain implant made partly of silk can melt onto the surface of the brain, providing an "intimate" connection for recording signals, researchers reported on Sunday.

Tests of their device showed the thin, flexible electrodes recorded signals from a cat's brain more accurately than thicker, stiff devices.

Such devices might help people with epilepsy, spinal cord injuries and even help operate artificial arms and legs, the researchers report in the journal Nature Materials.

John Rogers of the University of Illinois, Urbana and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania and Tufts University in Boston made the electrode arrays using protein from silk and thin metal electrodes.

The silk is biocompatible and water-soluble, dissolving into the brain and leaving the electrodes draped over its contours, the researchers reported.

They tested them on cats who were anesthetized but whose eyes were functioning. The electrodes recorded the signals from the eyes of the cats as they were shown visual images.

"These implants have the potential to maximize the contact between electrodes and brain tissue, while minimizing damage to the brain," said Dr. Walter Koroshetz of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, which helped pay for the study.

"They could provide a platform for a range of devices with applications in epilepsy, spinal cord injuries and other neurological disorders."

more...

Lobsters Hold the Key to SCI Cure

A new treatment based on the shells of sea creatures like lobsters may offer fresh hope to paralyzed and brain-damaged patients.

US researchers have found that a simple sugar found in crustacean shells appears to be able to cure damaged spinal chords, reports The Daily Express .

Professor Richard Borgens, director of the Centre for Paralysis Research in Indiana, which is pioneering the new treatment, said: “This is the most exciting development for spinal cord and brain injury since Second World War.

I am very excited. Using chemicals to repair the damaged nervous system
is a completely new way to treat people with these terrible injuries. It’s amazing one of these special chemicals would turn out to be a sugar.”

In the treatment, the sugar, mixed with sterile water, is injected into the bloodstream and then migrates to the spinal cord injury where it plugs holes in the coating of the nerve cells.

Borgens added: “Science has moved in a new direction. Previously we have been looking at drugs which would potentially reduce damage. Now we are looking at complete repair.”

The treatment, successfully used in guinea pigs, will also work in human trials, says the expert.

“The spinal cord of a guinea pig is very similar to that of a human – it is just smaller,” he said.

“This is not like a drug which may work in some species and not in others. This is a mechanical effect. The sugar molecules migrate to the nerve injury target and repair the injured area, not the undamaged area.”



more...

Chitosan Offers Hope For Spinal Injury Patients

Richard Borgens and his colleagues from the Center for Paralysis Research at the Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine have a strong record of inventing therapies for treating nerve damage. From Ampyra, which improves walking in multiple sclerosis patients to a spinal cord simulator for spinal injury victims, Borgens has had a hand in developing therapies that directly impact patients and their quality of life. Another therapy that is currently undergoing testing is the use of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to seal and repair damaged spinal cord nerve cells. By repairing the damaged membranes of nerve cells, Borgens and his team can restore the spinal cord's ability to transmit signals to the brain. However, there is one possible clinical drawback: PEG's breakdown products are potentially toxic. Is there a biodegradable non-toxic compound that is equally effective at targeting and repairing damaged nerve membranes? Borgens teamed up with physiologist Riyi Shi and chemist Youngnam Cho, who pointed out that some sugars are capable of targeting damaged membranes. Could they find a sugar that restored spinal cord activity as effectively as PEG? Borgens and his team publish their discovery that chitosan can repair damaged nerve cell membranes in The Journal of Experimental Biology on April 16, 2010.

Having initially tested mannose and found that it did not repair spinal cord nerve membranes, Cho decided to test a modified form of chitin, one of the most common sugars that is found in crustacean shells. Converting chitin into chitosan, Cho isolated a segment of guinea pig spinal cord, compressed a section, applied the modified chitin and then added a fluorescent dye that could only enter the cells through damaged membranes. If the chitosan repaired the crushed membranes then the spinal cord tissue would be unstained, but if the chitosan had failed, the spinal cord neurons would be flooded with the fluorescent dye. Viewing a section of the spinal cord under the microscope, Cho was amazed to see that the spinal cord was completely dark. None of the dye had entered the nerve cells. Chitosan had repaired the damaged cell membranes.

Next Cho tested whether a dose of chitosan could prevent large molecules from leaking from damaged spinal cord cells. Testing for the presence of the colossal enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), Borgens admits he was amazed to see that levels of LDH leakage from chitosan treated spinal cord were lower than from undamaged spinal cords. Not only had the sugar repaired membranes at the compression site but also at other sites where the cell membranes were broken due to handling. And when the duo tested for the presence of harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS), released when ATP generating mitochondria are damaged, they found that ROS levels also fell after applying chitosan to the damaged tissue: chitosan probably repairs mitochondrial membranes as well as the nerve cell membranes.

But could chitosan restore the spinal cord's ability to transmit electrical signals to the brain through a damaged region? Measuring the brain's response to nerve signals generated in a guinea pig's hind leg, the duo saw that the signals were unable to reach the brain through a damaged spinal cord. However, 30•min after injecting chitosan into the rodents, the signals miraculously returned to the animals' brains. Chitosan was able to repair the damaged spinal cord so that it could carry signals from the animal's body to its brain.

Borgens is extremely excited by this discovery that chitosan is able to locate and repair damaged spinal cord tissue and is even more enthusiastic by the prospect that nanoparticles of chitosan could also target delivery of neuroprotective drugs directly to the site of injury 'giving us a dual bang for our buck,' says Borgens.

Wheelchair Dude Tries to Blow Up Texas

A wheelchair-bound suspect was being quizzed Wednesday over a chilling campaign to plant homemade bombs across East Texas, the Tyler Paper reported.

More than 30 pipe bombs and Molotov cocktail-style explosives have been left outside post offices and businesses in the past two months.

Wednesday's arrest came after another incendiary device was located beside the busy Tanglewood Shopping Centre in Tyler shortly after 11am.

A bomb-disposal robot was dispatched to safely retrieve the explosive, which had been stuffed into a mailbox.

Around 45 minutes later bomb squad crews moved in to investigate a suspicious van parked nearby.

Federal officials told the Tyler Paper that as many as five home-made bombs were found stashed inside it.

The suspect is understood to be disabled and uses a wheelchair, but no information was released on either his identity or his motive.

His arrest comes after officials raised the reward for leads on the bomber to $25,000.

More information is due to be released at a press conference on Thursday.

Federal agencies including the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Postal Service inspectors have all been working on the case.



more...

Life on a Sofa - Wheelchair Stolen

Police in Sykesville say they have some strong leads in the theft of a wheelchair taken from a paralyzed man.

Police in Sykesville say they have some strong leads in the theft of a wheelchair.

The owner, who is paralyzed from the chest down, tells Suzanne Collins he's had a very hard time managing since the theft.

Jimmy Sawyer kisses his daughter from the couch. He's been stuck there a lot since his specially fitted Ultralight wheelchair was stolen late Saturday night.

It's a $3,600 chair. He'd left it in his driveway when he picked his wife up from work that night.

"The wheelchair I had I could do anything. I could help my wife do dishes, laundry, take care of my 4-year-old daughter," Sawyer said.

"We look around and like 'Where's the wheelchair? Is somebody playing a joke on us?'" said Amber Sawyer, Jimmy's wife.

Sykesville police are on the case, and they've made progress.

"We have received two very sold leads. One member of the community came forth and said they believe they saw two young people, one riding in the wheelchair down the street," said Sykesville police chief John Williams.

Still, police say it's likely the custom wheelchair is trashed, and that scares Jimmy Sawyers, who's had to use a cheaper rental chair that's painful to sit in. He's gotten bedsores and worries he may be hospitalized. He says he wishes the thieves could know what it's like to live like he does.

"My punishment for them would be put them in a wheelchair and have them do the things, live their life for a day in a wheelchair," Sawyer said.

more...

New York Ends Spinal Cord Injury

New York State Budget Changes Will Scrap Spinal Cord Injury Research Board

New York’s Governor David Patterson recently put forth his 2010-2011 state budget proposal, including the phasing out of New York’s Spinal Cord Injury Research Board (SCIRB). Supporters of the program are upset over the proposed cut, saying it will make the economy suffer further and will slow down important spinal cord research, an article in the Gotham Gazette reported.

Paul Richter, a New York state trooper who suffered a spinal cord injury during a shooting, created the SCIRB in 1998. He recovered enough to walk with a cane, and since his former favorite activities are out of his reach, he said, “I’ve never got a penny for doing this. I can’t golf anymore, so I spend my time and money this way,” the Gazette reported.

The SCIRB has been funded by a surcharge applied to traffic tickets in the state of New York. The logic behind the surcharge, said Richter, was that, “most spinal cord injuries result from automobile and motorcycle accidents,” the Gazette reported. The budget office claims they need the surcharges as part of the state’s general fund to help offset New York’s $9.2 billion budget deficit. The surcharges bring in a reported $6.7 million per year.

Opponents of the budget proposal say that the state cannot reallocate the funds set aside for the SCIRB. The Gazette reported that, “The statute is written very specifically, saying that the funds must be used for spinal injury research. Someone would have to rewrite the law, and I would like to know who that is, and I would go and confront them,” said Terry O’Neill, a friend of Richter and an early supporter of the SCIRB.

Jessica Basset of the State Division of the Budget countered O’Neill’s claims by saying, “The money moves through the general fund first, and the law says a certain amount may be transferred into the (spinal cord) fund–up to $8.4 million. It provides a limit but does not provide a floor,” she told the Gazette.

The opponents and supporters of continuing the SCIRB funding from the traffic surcharges have not yet reached an agreement. Supporters of the SCIRB claim that the research funded by the group saves the state more money than it takes from the general fund, while opponents want more tangible proof. With any luck, the SCIRB will gain enough attention through the process to replace any cuts that might take place. We wish them and their supporters the best of luck in their cause.

more...

Wind in your Face, Spinal Cord Injury in your Future

Bikers dominate spinal cord injuries

Young male motorcyclists continue to dominate the ranks of those Australians who suffer a spinal cord injury.

There were 362 cases of new spinal cord injury in 2007-08, according to latest data released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Most happened in crashes or falls, with just 77 having "non-trauma" causes such as infection, pressure on the spine from a cancerous growth or damage linked to osteoarthritis.

Motor vehicle accidents accounted for almost half of the trauma-related injuries and, within this group, young male motorbike riders again featured highly.

The accidents happened on highways and roads but also "off-road bike trails, beaches and farms", according to the report released on Wednesday.

"Fifty-one per cent of transport incidents were motor vehicle occupants while forty-nine per cent were unprotected road users, predominantly motorcyclists," it states.

"The vast majority of unprotected road users were male, and they tended to be younger with over half in the 15-34 years age group.

"Motorcyclists formed the youngest group, with an average age of 32 years."

Trailbike and motorcross racing were also listed among leisure activities that contributed to the spinal cord injuries, along with playing football of various codes, bicycle racing and horse riding.

Diving, surfing, swimming or jumping into bodies of water were also significant contributors to injuries.

Falls caused 81 cases of spinal cord injury during the year. In most cases (64 per cent), the victim fell more than a metre, such as from a roof.

Other causes of the injury included being struck or colliding with another person or object.

Patients recovering from a spinal cord injury each stayed, on average, just over four months in hospital.

"Overall, the rates and causes of spinal cord injury, and characteristics of people affected ... remained broadly similar to previous years."

more...

MV-1 - New, First, and Only Accessible Vehicle

Incorporating the principles of universal design, the all new MV-1 is the first OEM designed and assembled accessibility vehicle that meets the demanding needs of both paratransit and taxi fleets.
PARATRANSIT
The MV-1 is the most cost effective paratransit solution that meets the needs of both ambulatory and mobility impaired passengers. Built from the ground up to meet or exceed ADA guidelines with room for up to 2 wheelchairs, it outperforms the competition in virtually every category with no aftermarket conversion to compromise vehicle integrity.

TAXI
The MV-1 is also the first purpose built taxi solution to deliver best-in-class passenger comfort and interior room for both the mobility disabled and the general riding public. Thanks to its body-on-frame design and tuned suspension, it is engineered to withstand the typical taxi duty cycle while delivering the riding comfort of a car.

The MV-1 has created a new class of accessible transportation. Introducing MV-1.

The world’s first, and only, Mobility Vehicle.
• Body-on-frame structure optimizes structural rigidity, durability, and reliability
• Rear-wheel drive Ford 4.6L 2V EFI V8 engine and 4-speed automatic transmission
• Front SLA suspension and independent rear DeDion suspension

DURABILITY & SAFETY
• Low step-in and extra interior width allows for easy entry and exit for all passengers
• Best-in-class 36.4 ft3 luggage capacity
• Best-in-class 36-foot turning circle for superior maneuverability
• Best-in-class interior room, seating up to 6 comfortably
• Commercial driver’s seat for maximum operator comfort

COMFORT & QUALITY
• Meets or exceeds ADA vehicle guidelines
• Accommodates up to 2 wheelchairs
• 56” high and 36” wide access door
• Automatic or manual ramp deploys from under vehicle floor
• 1,200 lb. wheelchair ramp weight capacity

Chair Doesn't Stop Good Pool Cue Beating

A man whose wheelchair didn't stop him from beating a lingerie bar patron over the head with a pool cue is one of three people facing prison time in the incident.

Two men are accused of beating three patrons of a Huntington Beach lingerie bar, and a bartender has been charged as an accessory.

The Filling Post is located on Beach Boulevard near Heil Avenue. A fight involving pool cues broke out Sept. 15 at the lingerie bar.

On Sept. 15, two men brought a bartender at a Huntington Beach lingerie bar a change of clothes after a "wardrobe malfunction." They stayed and and ended up attacking three patrons, prosecutors charge.

Armando Correa Gonzales had a hearing in the case Friday. He pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon in December over the incident and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Melissa Gasco, 29, the bartender, has pleaded not guilty to accessory after the fact.

The Huntington Beach police did not return repeated calls about the identity of the other attacker, referred to as John Doe in court records.

Around 10:50 p.m., Gonzales and another man went to the Filling Post Pub on Beach Boulevard to bring clothes to Gasco, who had "some sort of wardrobe malfunction," according to a search warrant served by the Huntington Beach police.

One of the men went up to bar patron Mark Towers, 56, and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

Towers said he wasn't, and that he was just watching a baseball game. He looked away and then felt a sharp blow to the back of his head. The man hit him "two or three" more times with a pool cue, and he collapsed.

Larry Brown, 46, was with Towers watching the game and was also beaten, causing redness and swelling to the right side of his face.

Michael Garnica, 52, had been sitting at the bar talking with other patrons. When he turned to see the attack, the second man rolled up in a wheelchair and hit him the face with a pool cue.

Garnica had a cut over his right eye and a cut on the back of his head that required stitches. The attack, police said, "was clearly captured on surveillance footage and all appeared unprovoked an extremely violent."

Chair Doesn't Let Model Get in the Way

Curvaceous is now ‘in.’ Take V Magazine’s recent “Size Issue” for example. In their revolutionary “Curves Ahead” spread, the magazine displayed full-bodied women adorning glamorous jewellery, shoes and swimwear. For the first time, thicker and softer was being accepted in the fashion world, well at least, in the form of marketing.

But today London department store Debenhams became the first UK retailer to use a disabled model in a photo campaign to advertise a range by British designer Ben de Lisi. Shannon Murray, 32, and her wheelchair can be seen in several shop windows alongside Kate Fullman, a size 14 model, Tess Montgomery, a petite model and Tokumbo Daniel, a size 8 model.

Murray has been confined to her wheelchair since she broke her neck as a teenager. But with this new campaign, she won’t be confined from the public eye much longer.

“We cater for women of all shapes and sizes, young and old, non-disabled and disabled so we wanted our windows to reflect this choice,” Michael Sharp, Debenhams’ Deputy Chief Executive said.

The Cure to Spinal Cord Injury

Researchers at UTHealth have demonstrated in rats that transplanting genetically modified adult stem cells into an injured spinal cord can help restore the electrical pathways associated with movement. The results are published in the Feb. 24 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

In spinal cord injury, demyelination, or the destruction of the myelin sheath in the central nervous system, occurs. The myelin sheath, produced by cells called oligodendrocytes, wraps around the axons of nerves and helps speed activity and insulate electrical conduction. Without it, the nerves cannot send messages to make muscles move.

The research team, led by Qilin Cao, M.D., principal investigator and associate professor of neurosurgery at UTHealth (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston), discovered that transplanted adult stem cells (oligodendrocyte precursor cells or OPC) from the spinal cord could become oligodendrocytes. The new cells helped restore electrical pathways of the spinal cord and therefore, function, in a process called remyelination.

Cao said two important discoveries were isolating precursor cells from the adult spinal cord and, prior to transplanting them into the spinal cord, genetically modifying them to express ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), a protein that encourages nerve growth. In preliminary experiments, also published in this paper, CNTF was shown to facilitate survival and differentiation of OPCs in cell culture.

"Most importantly, the evidence of remyelination was shown to exactly coincide with the anatomical localization of these motor pathways in spinal cord white matter," Cao said. "These latter data provide confidence that the mechanism by which the grafted OPCs are enhancing functional recovery is through remyelination."

more...

Woman Burned Alive after Power Chair Ignites in Flames

A civil lawsuit has been filed in connection to a fire death last year at a Bastrop apartment for seniors.

On Sept. 13, a fire claimed the life of Merrimac Ellis, 87, a resident of the Bond House Apartment Complex at 720 Brisco St. Firefighters found Ellis trapped in her powered wheelchair, alive but badly burned, and she died en route to the hospital.

Merrimac Ellis' son, James Ellis, is seeking damages from Bond House, the insurance company underwriting the apartment and the respective manufacturers of Ellis' wheelchair, the apartment's sprinkler system and the fire alarm system.

The petition for damages, which represents only the plaintiff's side in a lawsuit, claims the apartment and its management neglected the safety of its residents, and the manufacturers provided faulty products that were dangerous and ultimately lethal.

"In its investigation, the State of Louisiana Fire Marshal observed bloody fingerprints under the sink when the fire consumed her," the petition reads. "These bloody fingerprints are indication of Ms. Ellis' valiant, yet unsuccessful, attempts to free herself from the burning chair to save her life."

The petition goes on to say subsequent investigations indicated the fire started under the seat of the wheelchair, and Invacare Corp., the world's largest maker of battery-operated wheelchairs, had issued recalls in the past for short-circuiting chairs that ignited and burned or killed their occupants.

After the fire started, the sprinkler system never initiated and the fire alarm never sounded. The petition faults the sprinkler company, Delta Fire Protection Systems Inc., for failing to maintain sprinkler heads, and Vantronics Security System of Monroe, Inc., for failing to maintain an audible alarm. It also faults Samella Anderson, the manager for Bond House, and Bond House itself for allowing the "unreasonably dangerous conditions" to go undiscovered and unresolved.

After his office concluded its investigation, State Fire Marshal Butch Browning said while investigators found no problems with the sprinkler head in Ellis' room, his office did have concerns about the sprinkler system throughout the building.



more...

SF Bus Ejects Wheelchair Man and Creates Geyser

SAN FRANCISCO — A bizarre chain of events left two people injured and a San Francisco neighborhood soaking wet when a city bus struck a fire hydrant.

It all began Sunday evening when a Muni rider was getting off a bus using its extended wheelchair lift. Muni spokesman Judson True says the customer fell from the lift and was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries.

As the incident was being sorted out, the bus rolled forward and the wheelchair lift sheared off a fire hydrant, sending water gushing into the air three stories high. True says the hydrant struck a Muni inspector, who was treated for minor injuries at the scene.

Water from the hydrant flooded a building on the corner of Fillmore and Haight streets.

True says the bus driver has been placed on non-driving status as officials investigate the incident.

Run-Away Toyota Causes Spinal Cord Injury

A man from Louisville, Kentucky, crashed his 2010 Toyota Camry on January 29. A sticking accelerator pedal reportedly caused the crash, according to a Wave3 News article. Toyota recalled eight of its 2010 car models two weeks ago as the first step in solving this manufacturing defect, which has allegedly been causing sudden unintended acceleration.

The Kentucky man involved in the crash, identified as Todd Allen, had not heard anything about the recall before driving on the day of his accident, a Justice News Flash piece reported.

When Allen arrived at the hospital, he was alleged to have lost sensation in his legs. Emergency medical personnel suspected he might have suffered a spinal cord injury in the accident. Four people were in the Toyota Camry when the driver, Allen, was attempting to pull into a parking spot. The Wave3 report said that the accelerator pedal allegedly stuck, forcing the car to quickly accelerate, leading to the crash and subsequent injuries.

more...

SCI Skiing

On Feb. 4, Life Rolls On (LRO) will trade surfboards for monoskis as the organization hosts its 2nd Annual They Will Ski Again event at Bear Mountain in Big Bear Lake, Calif. With varying degrees of mobility, individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) will be treated to an exciting day on the slopes with expert instruction provided by Bear Mountain's adaptive ski instructors.

"LRO utilizes action sports as a platform for showing what is possible despite spinal cord injury," said Meghan Schinderle, Program Director for Life Rolls On. "We are thrilled to once again adapt snowboarding and skiing for our incredible participants who are eager and ready to hit the slopes, some, for the very first time since their injury."

Life Rolls On is best-known for its award-winning adaptive surfing program, They Will Surf Again, through which paraplegics and quadriplegics experience the joy of catching a wave with the assistance of adaptive equipment and dedicated volunteers. Similar to They Will Surf Again, this program empowers individuals with SCI to participate in a sport they enjoyed prior to injury and serves as an opportunity to introduce others to the sport for the first time.

Participants will enjoy this amazing experience at no-cost thanks to generous support from sponsors Bear Mountain, BJ's Restaurant Foundation, and Tonic Hair Care.

But Can He Talk and Drive the Chair at the Same Time?

Spinal cord injury patient Cruise Bogle controls mobility with tongue

Skimboarding in Florida ended sadly for Cruise Bogle when a wave whipped his board out from under him and sent him crashing into the ocean floor, breaking his neck. Since then, Bogle has been paralyzed from the neck down, but new technology promises to restore some of his movement.

During his stay at a hospital in Atlanta, the man was tapped to test a new wheelchair developed by engineers from the Georgia Institute of Technology. It is powered by the patient's tongue because that organ is connected to the brain directly, rather than through the spinal cord, and so remains functional even in quadriplegics, according to CNN.

Bogle's tongue was fitted with a small magnet that works like a mouse pad, with the tongue as the cursor. Moving the tongue forward sends a wireless signal to sensors in a special headset that causes the wheelchair to move forward, while moving the tongue back causes the opposite movement.

"It was awkward at first to control a wheelchair with my tongue, but it got easier as I went on," the 20-year-old told the news provider, adding that the technology is "amazing."

According to the Travis Roy Foundation, which is dedicated to spinal cord injury research, between 250,000 - 400,000 Americans are living with this type of injury and more than 13,000 new cases are reported each year.

The Mayo Clinic suggests that individuals may reduce their risk of a spinal cord injury by driving safely, exercising caution around firearms, preventing falls, and taking precautions when playing sports.

Another organization that can help survivors live thriving lives despite their disability is the National Spinal Cord Injury Association.

more...

First U.S. Stem Cells Transplanted into Spinal Cord

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- For the first time in the United States, stem cells have been directly injected into the spinal cord of a patient, researchers announced Thursday.

Doctors injected stem cells from 8-week-old fetal tissue into the spine of a man in his early 60s who has advanced ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It was part of a clinical trial designed to determine whether it is safe to inject stem cells into the spinal cord and whether the cells themselves are safe.

ALS is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that causes the deterioration of specific nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord called motor neurons, which control muscle movement. About 30,000 Americans have ALS at any given time, according to the ALS Association.

There is no cure for ALS, which is better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, named after the New York Yankees' first baseman and Hall of Famer who retired from baseball in the 1930s after being diagnosed with the disease.

As the illness progresses, patients lose their ability to walk, talk and breathe. Patients usually die within two to five years of diagnosis, according the ALS Association.

Neuralstem Inc., a Rockville, Maryland-based biotech company, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to conduct the clinical trial in September. The company is fully funding the research and provides the stem cells that are being injected into the patients.

Neuralstem announced the start of the clinical trial in a news release Thursday.

Longtime ALS researcher and University of Michigan neurologist Dr. Eva Feldman is overseeing the first human clinical trial of a stem cell treatment in ALS patients.

"We are entering a new era of cell therapeutics for ALS, and in my opinion, it is an new era of hope for patients with ALS," Feldman said.

At least 12 patients are expected to participate in this early research. They are to receive the stem cell transplants at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

"This is the first study to see if the invasive injection into the spinal cord is safe for the patient," said Lucie Bruijn, science director of the ALS Association.

This first patient in the clinical trial received several injections of stem cells into the lumbar region of the spinal cord, the area that controls leg function, because most ALS patients first lose muscle function in their legs, according to Karl Johe, Neuralstem's chairman and chief scientific officer.

Bruijn says there have been a few other occasions outside the United States in which fetal stem cells have been injected into a patient, "but not necessarily using a very [rigorous] trial design." She adds that there were also a couple of small studies in Italy that injected other types of stem cells into a few patients but that this is the first FDA-approved trial in the United States.

"Our biggest hope for stem cells is to significantly slow the progression the disease," Bruijn said.

The ALS Association is not providing funding for this clinical trial, but it has supported the work of Dr. Nick Boulis, the Emory neurosurgeon who developed the surgical technique used to inject the stem cells.

Johe invented the technology that allows the company to manufacture billions of copies of stem cells that are taken from a single source of spinal cord cells: cells that were extracted from fetal tissue, which was donated to the company.

"The cells are human neural stem cells," Johe said, acknowledging that the introduction of stem cells is a very invasive procedure.

"What we are attempting is a novel approach by directly injecting them into the middle of the spinal cord, which to our knowledge has never been done before," Johe said.

Researchers plan to follow this and future patients participating in this trial for a long time to determine the safety of the procedure.

more...

Experts: Sitting Too Much Could be Deadly

Here's a new warning from health experts: Sitting is deadly.

Scientists are increasingly warning that sitting for prolonged periods — even if you also exercise regularly — could be bad for your health. And it doesn't matter where the sitting takes place — at the office, at school, in the car or before a computer or TV — just the overall number of hours it occurs.

Research is preliminary, but several studies suggest people who spend most of their days sitting are more likely to be fat, have a heart attack or even die.

In an editorial published this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Elin Ekblom-Bak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences suggested that authorities rethink how they define physical activity to highlight the dangers of sitting.

While health officials have issued guidelines recommending minimum amounts of physical activity, they haven't suggested people try to limit how much time they spend in a seated position.

"After four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals," Ekblom-Bak said. She explained that genes regulating the amount of glucose and fat in the body start to shut down.

Even for people who exercise, spending long stretches of time sitting at a desk is still harmful. Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization, said people who exercise every day — but still spend a lot of time sitting — might get more benefit if that exercise were spread across the day, rather than in a single bout.

That wasn't welcome news for Aytekin Can, 31, who works at a London financial company, and spends most of his days sitting in front of a computer. Several evenings a week, Can also teaches jiu jitsu, a Japanese martial art involving wrestling, and also does Thai boxing.

"I'm sure there are some detrimental effects of staying still for too long, but I hope that being active when I can helps," he said. "I wouldn't want to think the sitting could be that dangerous."

Still, in a study published last year that tracked more than 17,000 Canadians for about a dozen years, researchers found people who sat more had a higher death risk, independently of whether or not they exercised.

"We don't have enough evidence yet to say how much sitting is bad," said Peter Katzmarzyk of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, who led the Canadian study. "But it seems the more you can get up and interrupt this sedentary behavior, the better."

Figures from a U.S. survey in 2003-2004 found Americans spend more than half their time sitting, from working at their desks to sitting in cars.

Experts said more research is needed to figure out just how much sitting is dangerous, and what might be possible to offset those effects.

"People should keep exercising because that has a lot of benefits," Ekblom-Bak said. "But when they're in the office, they should try to interrupt sitting as often as possible," she said. "Don't just send your colleague an e-mail. Walk over and talk to him. Standing up."

more...

Underwater Treadmill Proves Rehab Benefit

Physical therapist Sandra Stevens first explored the use of underwater treadmills at Middle Tennessee State University with children suffering from cerebral palsy. She hypothesized that the underwater system might also have profound benefits for spinal cord injury patients struggling to relearn how to walk and move. Stevens noted dramatic improvement in endurance in patients who used the treadmills as part of their rehabilitation program. She said, “So they’ve gone from four or five minutes of walking to 32 or 34 minutes. That’s a big improvement,” in a DNA India article.
Stevens’ research has already helped a handful of spinal cord injury survivors to relearn to walk after suffering from full or partial paralysis. A Newswise article reported on the cases of three of Stevens’ patients: Jim Harris, Bob Moody, and Janette Rodgers; all three of them have relearned how to walk with the help of underwater treadmills.

Harris survived a plane crash, Moody fell and became paralyzed two years ago, and Rodgers broke her neck in a car accident in mid-2009. The Newswise article reported, “For spinal-cord injuries, walking in water is the ideal place because people with this particular injury have a blunted cardiovascular response to any exercise, Stevens explained. Walking in water produces greater blood flow, which increases cardiovascular activity, she said.”

Since the use of underwater treadmills does not require any kind of FDA approval, the rehabilitation method has witnessed a rapid gain in popularity in various and sometimes-strange places around the U.S. A basketball player for Ohio State University was able to recover and return to play after a fall left him with broken bones in his back. Yahoo Sports reported that Evan Turner missed just six games while recovering from his injury. “Turner said he spent 30-40 minutes each day in the pool running on an underwater treadmill. His body responded well enough that he stopped taking painkillers earlier than expected,” the article noted.

A basketball training facility in Mississippi is being completed this year with an underwater treadmill for athletes to use while recovering from minor to more serious injuries. A state of the art rehabilitation center in Wyoming has plans to include an underwater treadmill as part of their new expanding facility.

Another article reported that even some high-tech veterinarian facilities provide shallow underwater treadmills for obese dogs to use for moving safely and losing weight. The method holds tremendous promise for spinal cord injury survivors around the world. Because the method is relatively inexpensive, it is likely that more and more training and rehabilitation facilities will provide underwater treadmills as an effective and viable option for their patients.

more...

Music Loses a Legend, SCI Loses another Hero

Teddy Pendergrass, one of R&Bs favorite sons, and a superstar of the 1970s and 1980s, sings his way home.

It's 1972 and there's a crackling fire in the fireplace, some Lancer's on the table, and smooth, soulful sounds are pouring out of the radio. You can bet it's Teddy Pendergrass whose voice is behind it.

But the voice and the man are both silent now as Pendergrass, 59, succumbed to a prolonged illness on Wednesday night in Philadelphia, Pa., where the Grammy-winner had been hospitalized since August.

How many babies were made to his brand of R&B featuring his strong, stirring and sexy style?

A lot.

Considering that his voice was on 10 consecutive platinum-selling albums, his appeal crossed racial lines and his triumph over tragedy following a car accident in 1982 which left him a paraplegic, brought Pendergrass worldwide acclaim.

His activism with the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, which formed a partnership with the National Spinal Cord
Injury Association, has helped others in their recovery from spinal cord injuries.

Some of his most famous No.1 hits included: "Close the Door," "Turn Off the Lights," "I Don't Love You Anymore" and "Love T.K.O.," which helped earn him five Grammy nominations, as his raw sensuality  and sex appeal created Beatles-level hysteria.

"Teddy Pendergrass was one of the greatest artists that the music industry has ever known, and there hasn't been another one since. We've lost our voice and we've lost our best friend, but we're thankful for what we had. It was beautiful. He was one of the best," said producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who worked with their friend in bringing soul music from Philadelphia ("The Sound of Philadelphia") to the world.

The man might be gone, but his voice will live on, insuring that he will never be forgotten.

more...