State Budget Puts Spinal Cord Injury Research in Jeopardy

State trooper Paul Richter was lying on the ground, looking up at the man who had just shot him. Death seemed all but certain. The Queens-born Richter had been shot in the leg, arm and neck while checking out a vehicle that had been used in the robbery of a sporting goods store, and the shooter seemed ready to finish him off.

“Nah, he’s dead,” the shooter’s accomplice said, giving Richter a reprieve. But the 1973 encounter in Lake Placid left Richter paralyzed for months. Eventually he was able to regain some function of his legs and can walk with the assistance of a cane. Continue Reading »

Little girl with spinal injury a big inspiration

Three months ago, 11-year-old Mackenzie Saunders injured her spinal cord
while playing soccer and was unable to walk.

The times that followed could have been her darkest hours. Instead, her irrepressible attitude has made her a star.

Her pain required three-times-a-day medication. The physical therapy toward getting her to walk might have brought tears to the eyes of someone twice her age. Continue Reading »

Showing the way

Local physical therapist pairs former patients with new patients to help newly disabled people learn how to cope

Jesse Gifford knows all too well how Matt Thomas feels these days.

Thomas has been confined to a wheelchair since July, when a mountain bike accident left him paralyzed. Gifford suffered a similar paralyzing injury almost 13 years ago after a diving accident. Continue Reading »

Water works on paralysis

MTSU research brings amazing results

As miracles go, it’s not quite walking on water. But for paralyzed volunteers taking part in an MTSU study, walking in water is almost as amazing.

For the past eight weeks, university researchers have placed people with crippling spinal cord injuries on underwater treadmills — with impressive results. Continue Reading »

From service dog to SURFice dog

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. Continue Reading »

Restoring More Functions After Neurological Injury With The Help Of Tailored Physical Therapy

New research suggests a tailored approach to physical therapy after a neurological injury such as a stroke, traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury could help restore a wider variety of functions.

Clinical physical therapy is a widely used treatment approach to help restore the motor function of patients following neurological injuries. Unfortunately many of the specific treatments used in the clinic only restore function to a specific task, and not to a wide range of everyday activities. This is also true in animal research where stand training only leads to better standing, step training only leads to better stepping, and so forth. Continue Reading »

Q & A with Garrett Riggs, M.D., Ph.D., about spinal cord Injuries

Garrett Riggs, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla., talks about whether retraining neurons can benefit patients with spinal cord injuries.

Garrett Riggs, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla., talks about whether retraining neurons can benefit patients with spinal cord injuries. Continue Reading »

UR Medical Center chief recounts spring bicycle accident

Riding his bicycle on a hilltop near his Canandaigua home May 30, Dr. Bradford Berk didn’t see any cars coming along the narrow North Vine Valley Road.

But rounding a sharp curve, he suddenly encountered an oncoming car “quite a bit over in my side of the lane,” said Berk, speaking publicly Thursday for the first time since he suffered a spinal cord injury. Berk is still on leave from his post as chief of the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The car forced him off the pavement, said Berk. “When I got off the road, my bicycle tire blew. As I continued to pedal, I ended up going over the handlebars.” Continue Reading »

Paralyzed by football injury, Mount Shasta teen remains upbeat

MOUNT SHASTA – It’s been an emotional few weeks for 18-year-old Corben Brooks, who’s had to say goodbye as his friends, one by one, head off to college.

He might have been leaving, too, had a football injury three days into his senior year not left him mostly paralyzed from the chest down. But the former multisport athlete and accomplished student has been on his own journey, learning how to adapt to a life no one anticipated.

“It’s been like a roller coaster,” said Corben, who suffered a broken neck and spinal cord injury during a practice scrimmage on Aug. 22, 2008. “It’s definitely had its ups and downs.” Continue Reading »