"We all know that Mr. Williams gives 110, or maybe 175, percent, when he acts," Wilmer Valderrama said a few minutes later as he kicked off an evening honoring Williams for his work with a foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with spinal cord injury. "But many don't realize that he gives even more when he's off stage."

Williams thanked David Crosby, Bonnie Hunt, Eric Idle and other friends for joining him to receive an award "that I plan to put on the front of my car."

Rick Hansen made history with his journey around the world but it was only the beginning of what would become his lifelong dream.

With the establishment of the Rick Hansen Foundation in 1988, the Man in Motion has been steadily moving toward that dream of a fully accessible and inclusive society, and a cure for spinal cord injury. Since raising $26 million with his worldwide tour 20 years ago, the Foundation has dedicated more than $178 million to spinal cord injury research and quality-of-life initiatives.

Paralysed from a spinal cord injury, Peter Jones tried to cope with excruciating pressure sores by treating himself with vitamins.

What he and his wife, Crystal, didn't know until he joined a London research project was the vitamins he was taking were making his sores, or ulcers, worse.

"It was pretty scary because the ulcers can kill you. If not treated property, they just keep getting bigger and bigger and it can get to the point you can see the bone," Crystal Jones said .

Surveys have found at least one-third of people who have suffered spinal cord injuries have pressure sores.

The latest finding of the project, which started in 2004, shows that electrical stimulation of the pelvic nerve in the spinal cord can control the contraction and relaxation of muscles involved in bladder control.

In tests on cats, the researchers found that high frequency electrical pulses directed at the pelvic nerve helped empty the bladder, while low frequency pulses increased bladder capacity and improved continence.

The Christopher Reeve Foundation (CRF) announced today that it has awarded $717,404 in Quality of Life grants to 90 nonprofit organizations around the world. The Quality of Life program was conceived by the late Dana Reeve as a way for the CRF to help improve the day-to-day health and well-being of those living with paralysis. Since the program's inception in 1999, 1,163 grants totaling $9,220,980 have been awarded.

"The Christopher Reeve Foundation is proud to carry on Christopher and Dana Reeve's amazing legacy and make a real difference in the lives of people living with paralysis, their families and communities," said Kathy Lewis, president and CEO of the CRF. "Our Quality of Life grantees help thousands of individuals Go Forward to lead happier -- and healthier -- lives."

It's a delicate operation: Surgeons cut open a spot on the spine and sew two normally unrelated nerves together — one from the bladder to one from the thigh — with a single hair-thin stitch. It will take months for this new nerve bridge to heal, an anxious waiting period for the first volunteers.

But if it works, merely scratching the thigh should signal the bladder to empty, allowing patients to ditch their despised catheters and restore a longed-for degree of freedom, as well as fewer bladder infections and other serious complications.

"The findings are promising as spinal cord injury pain is a condition which generally responds poorly to currently available treatments," said study author Philip J. Siddall, MBBS, PhD, with Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia.