The first patient to undergo an adult stem cell procedure that may help spinal cord injury patients regain function had an injection Thursday that may change the course of medical history.

Sitting in his den Thursday morning, surrounded by pictures of Dr. John, Matt Cole, the patient, was cool, calm and collected. His wife Kim was with him, and he answered questions for documentation of the medical procedure he was about to undertake – an injection of his stem cells into his spinal cord that may help him regain use of his lower body. Continue Reading »

See Hayden Allen using Rex, the Robotic Exoskeleton, a world first product developed by Rex Bionics. Continue Reading »

Americans’ love affair with automobiles has come with a cost higher than the price of the cars. Although stroke is the leading cause of paralysis in this country, auto accidents account for 41.3 of the nation’s paralyzing spinal cord injuries.

That’s tragic, of course, but there is some good news: Very promising research is taking place at the University of Louisville’s Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center and the University of Kentucky’s Spinal Cord & Brain Injury Research Center. Continue Reading »

Ryan Creech can’t walk, but he’s driven to move forward.

Creech — injured three years ago in an all-terrain vehicle accident — runs the telephone switchboard at University of the Cumberlands, is studying for a master’s degree in teaching, gives guitar lessons and volunteers at his church.

He’s getting therapy at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital in Lexington and fighting to regain as much leg movement as possible. Continue Reading »

A bullet remains lodged in Michelle Alexander’s spinal cord nearly six years after her husband shot her four times — instantly paralyzing her — before killing himself in July 2004.

Doctors told her she’d probably never walk again. But a rehabilitation strategy being pioneered at the University of Louisville is changing her fate.

Today Alexander uses a walker to get around, takes tentative steps with two canes and gets on a specially designed treadmill four days a week as part of a research study evaluating Locomotor training, which UofL’s Susan Harkema helped develop to teach lost skills to broken nervous systems.

It’s one of several areas of spinal cord research at UofL and the University of Kentucky, home to two of about 10 large centers for such work in the nation. Continue Reading »

Went to the Abilities Expo at the LA Convention Center on April 10th – 11th for the first time and saw allot stuff! and met some really great people. Continue Reading »

A recent paper in the journal Nature Medicine sheds some important new light on the underlying mechanisms of spasticity that often develops after a spinal cord injury. Involuntary contractions of muscles, or spasticity, can have potentially serious consequences, and although medications are available that reduce spasticity, they can also interfere with positive motor functions or rehabilitation.

Although spasticity represents an involuntary movement of muscle, the muscular activity originates with excited neurons telling the muscles to constantly move and contract (hyperexcitability). Continue Reading »

HOUSTON — He lost the use of his limbs but found a love for art — now a local artist is on a mission to help others with spinal cord injuries. Continue Reading »

Power Soccer is the first competitive team sport designed and developed specifically for power wheelchair users. Continue Reading »

By Judith Shatto

I know personally the danger of drunk driving; the pain, heartbreak, consequences, and rage it can cause. My son and I live it every day. He is a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down because of a drunk driver.

Having the opportunity to write my experience has been somewhat overwhelming to say the least. The opportunity I am calling my purge. To release the negative emotions I have held on to; to let others know that no matter how difficult life gets, if you look over your shoulder, there is often times someone with greater pain. Seems trivial but the saying – if life gives you lemons, make lemonade is true. Some of us just take longer to start squeezing them!

The first year of my son’s injury I fell into a deep hole of depression. I was so angry. Actually, anger isn’t the right word. I was living in rage. I was angry at the world, at God, and especially the drunk and our court system. I was overwhelmed with the fear of not understanding or knowing anything about spinal cord injuries. Overwhelmed and stuck in that place many of us know…the whys. Deep down I had enough faith that I knew we would get through this. I just didn’t know how long it would take. And the hole I found myself in was so deep; forget the rope, I was hanging on by a thread. Continue Reading »