Five weeks after collapsing on a soccer field with an injury that paralyzed her lower body, Mackenzie Saunders returned to school this week.

Her fellow sixth-graders at Kyrene Akimel A-al Middle School in Ahwatukee saw Mackenzie, 11, get a special key to use the elevator, do wheelies in a child-sized wheelchair and show a confident smile to tell the world everything is okay. Continue Reading »

Man In Motion Rick Hansen has been named as the community torchbearer when the Olympic Torch Relay completes its Richmond leg on Tuesday, February 9, 2010.

“Rick is both an international hero and a tireless community volunteer,” said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “We’re proud to have him represent Richmond by carrying the torch and lighting the cauldron during our community celebration. It will not only celebrate the imminent opening of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, it will be a fitting tribute to the 25th anniversary of Rick’s incredible Man In Motion World Tour.” Continue Reading »

Necedah firm off to the races with wheelchair idea

Necedah – A Wisconsin camper manufacturer, inspired by an employee who uses a wheelchair to get around, has developed a motorized wheelchair that soon could be giving people with spinal cord injuries the mobility to participate in off-road activities such as hunting and fishing.

Powered by a small motorcycle engine, the chair is capable of speeds up to 25 mph and is geared to handle hills. Continue Reading »

Keith Shirk is animated when he talks.

His face is expressive. He gestures frequently with his hands. He’s come light-years since the June 2001 accident that that paralyzed him from the chest down.

“At first, in the hospital,” he says, “all I could do was lift my left shoulder.” Now, nine years after he dove into the Ocean City, Md., surf and hit his head on a sandbar, he’s checked off many of the goals he set for himself. Continue Reading »

In some cases, device might hurt accident victims

Applying a brace to the neck of a trauma patient, standard procedure for many decades, can worsen the injury and lead to severe paralysis or death, according to a new study by Houston researchers.

Baylor College of Medicine doctors used cadavers to confirm that so-called cervical collars can be counterproductive, a finding that could upturn the way emergency medical personnel and doctors act to stabilize and protect the upper spine in potentially fatal neck injuries, such as those that commonly occur in bad automobile accidents. Continue Reading »

Researchers at the medical university Karolinska Institutet have created a genetically modified mouse in which certain neurons can be activated by blue light. Shining blue light on brainstems or spinal cords isolated from these mice produces walking-like motor activity. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, are of potential significance to the recovery of walking after spinal cord injury. Continue Reading »

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. Continue Reading »

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. Continue Reading »

Vince Barton’s life will never be the same again.

The father-of-two’s world was turned upside down when he was hit by a car while cycling to work in an accident that left him unable to use his limbs.

Now he is pleading with motorists to take more care on the roads as figures revealed he was among 125 cyclists – more than two a week – who were hurt in road accidents in our area last year.

Off those, 22 victims were seriously injured and, like Mr Barton, the effects on their lives have been devastating. Continue Reading »

A gymnast who was paralysed when a lighting structure fell on her during a party in Qawra is determined that she will walk again.

Indeed, stem cell treatment she started in Moscow is already working “miraculously” for Vlada Kravchenko, who is now able to use her hips and thighs to crawl after suffering the horrific injury in 2008. Continue Reading »