SPIRIT
Spirit trustees were interested to learn of this story of an American man who spent 20 hours lying paralysed outside his home earlier this month after recovering “amazingly” thanks in part to his dog.
The treating neurosurgeon, Chaim Colen said the man, who wished only to be identified as Bob, would likely have died if it hadn’t been for his golden retriever, which kept him warm while howling for help on New Year’s Day.
Read more about this remarkable story here.
Blog by Jonathan Fogerty, Trustee of SPIRIT:
I was very moved by this news feature. Is it not a shocking indictment of the UK in 2017?
I have been a wheelchair user for nearly 30 years and when I look back at the facilities that were available when I first became a wheelchair user, it is clear that we have much better accessible facilities and a better accessible social environment than we had in the late 1980s.
For example, I remember travelling by train from Manchester to London in the late 1980s and for the first time as a wheelchair user.
There was no wheelchair accessible space in the carriage. I had to be lifted on and off by a couple of the guards and I travelled in the guard’s van with the bags of post.
There is no doubt that facilities have improved but having said that, we still have a long way to go. Much of our transport infrastructure remains inaccessible to wheelchair users and there remains no effective body enforcing the Equality Act 2010. That is very disappointing. If somebody cannot use public transport because of a disability then what chance have they of returning to employment and contributing meaningfully to society. If they cannot access schools or colleges, how can they have an education and get qualifications in order to succeed in life. We need to decide as a society in the 21st century how we want to treat people with a disability.
I was interviewed by Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2 this lunchtime about my experiences using an on-board train wheelchair accessible toilet following the story in the news about the Paralympian who was forced to wet herself as she could not gain access to the accessible toilet on board the train.
See this link to the BBC iPlayer and listen again to the programme.
The feature about accessible toilets on trains starts one hour into the programme and my interview starts at around one hour 20 minutes (or just after) into the programme… If you just want to listen to my bit!
In 2015, Pauline Mearns unfortunately broke her back.
Despite suffering an injury at T12 & L1, she went on to make a remarkable recovery after a long and intense period of rehabilitation.
Now, a year later and wanting to give something back to the spinal cord injury community, Pauline is embarking upon another remarkable challenge.
She is participating in a six-day trek to raise money for SPIRIT and, as trustees of the charity, we are delighted that she has chosen SPIRIT and to support the charity in this way.
All of us at SPIRIT send our very best wishes to Pauline and we wish well on her trek. If you would like to sponsor Pauline and show your support of her and SPIRIT, please follow this link to Pauline’s just-giving page.
We well let you know how Pauline gets on when she has completed her trek!
GOOD LUCK PAULINE!
It is with deep sadness that the trustees of SPIRIT learned of the death of Professor Paul Kennedy this week.
Paul was Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford and Trust Head of Clinical Psychology at the National Spinal Injuries Centre, Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
Paul was instrumental in developing clinical psychological support for those affected by spinal cord injury and he was passionate about involving clinical psychology within the rehabilitation process after injury.
He was also one of the founders of the MASCIP organisation that developed relationships between therapists and nursing teams at the spinal injury centres around the UK.
Paul will be sorely missed and the trustees of SPIRIT send their sincere condolences to Paul’s wife and family.
Prof Wagih-El-Masri, Chair of SPIRIT said:
“We are devastated to hear of Paul’s passing. He deserves a huge amount of praise for the development of clinical psychological treatment for those with spinal cord injury. The world of spinal cord injury care and support is much the poorer for his absence.”
As a spinal cord injury charity, SPIRIT welcomes the progress made by the Walk Again Project in Brazil to generate function in paralysed muscles after spinal cord injury.
Scientists developed the Walk Again Project, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, thinking that they could enable paraplegics to move about using the exoskeleton controlled by their thoughts.
But they were surprised to discover that during the training, the eight patients all started to regain the sense of touch and movement below the injury to their spine.
Read more about their discovery here.
SPIRIT is delighted to learn of the research that continues in this area in the hope that one day people who sustain paralysis through spinal cord injury will recover.
SPIRIT trustee, Jonathan Fogerty said on hearing the news:
“This is very positive news and I’m pleased to hear about it. However we have to be cautious. Despite the significant advances that have been made, we are not at the stage where we can call this is a ‘cure’ for spinal cord injury. Until a cure for spinal cord injury is found, it is important that all patients with a spinal cord injury in the UK are properly rehabilitated in a specialist spinal injury centre so that each can achieve their maximum potential post injury.”
It is also vital that the spinal cord injury charities in the UK, such as the Spinal Injuries Association, Aspire, Spinal Research and the Back Up Trust continue to provide their important support services.
If you would like to learn more about the work of SPIRIT, please look around our website or email us.
