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ABOUT SPINAL CORD INJURIES

  Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that results in a loss of function such as mobility or feeling. Frequent causes of damage are trauma (car accident, gunshot, falls, etc.) or disease (polio, spina bifida, Friedreich’s Ataxia, etc.). The spinal cord does not have to be severed for a loss of functioning to occur. In fact, in most people with SCI, the spinal cord is intact, but the damage to it results in loss of functioning. SCI is very different from back injuries such as ruptured disks, spinal stenosis or pinched nerves.

 

  A person can “break their back or neck” yet not sustain a spinal cord injury if only the bones around the spinal cord (the vertebrae) are damaged, but the spinal cord is not affected. In these situations, the individual may not experience paralysis after the bones are stabilized. Spinal cord injuries occur when there’s damage to the spinal cord. The result is loss of function, usually in mobility or feeling.

 

  Severe injuries that occur in the neck usually result in Quadriplegia, which is paralysis from about the shoulders down. Typically, the higher the neck injury, the more Disability there is. Quadriplegics lack the ability to move their arms and legs, and some may require a Ventilator to breathe. Paraplegics have an injury further down the spinal cord and experience a loss of sensation and movement in their legs and in part or all their trunk. In many cases, there is some use of their hands or arms. Depending on the extent of the injury and whether the damage is permanent, there may be a loss of bladder and bowel control.

 

  More than 54 percent of spinal cord injuries are the result of vehicular collisions. More than a quarter result from other medical conditions and sports injuries. Falls make up about 18 percent. In addition to quadriplegic and paraplegic, the terms “complete” and “incomplete” are used to describe the type of spinal cord injury. Complete injuries result in total loss of sensation and movement below the injury. Both sides of the body are affected equally.

 

  Incomplete injuries result in partial loss of feeling and function below the injury. For example, someone with an Incomplete Injury may be able to move one limb more than another or feel a part of the body that can’t be moved. Complete and incomplete injuries can occur in Paraplegia and quadriplegia. Other effects may include low blood pressure, inability to regulate blood pressure, reduced control of body temperature and inability to sweat below the injury.

DID
YOU
KNOW

There are 21 million Americans with a physical disability. Shockingly, less than 10-percent of them participate in daily physical activity. Nike and U.S. Paralympics want to identify and increase the number of persons with physical disabilities active in sports by making them aware of Paralympic organizations in their community.

 

Please join us in distributing the attached web-link – www.usparalympics.org. The link includes the recent Nike ad, which features Paralympian and wheelchair basketball player Matt Scott. By sharing this link with your friends, business associates, parents, athletes and supporters, we hope to expand awareness about the opportunities to be active, healthy and make a difference in the lives of thousands of physically disabled people.

If you are interested in informational sites and other organizations that offer assistance to those in need

you can follow the links below!

University of Louisville: Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center

Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation

Michael Feger Paralysis Foundation

University of Kentucky: Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center

Fraizer Rehab Institute: Michael Brent Resource Center

LINKS

Come support our efforts to provide a quality of life for others with spinal cord injury/disease as we raise funds for research, grants, scholarships and our all accessible playgrounds.

In Person

Donate by contacting one of our members listed below:

 

Linda Berry, Secretary

Cell: (502) 608-6276

Online

Donate to our PayPal here:

By Mail

You may send your contributions to:

Friends For Michael, Inc. Spinal Cord Injury Org.
PO Box 212
Campbellsburg, KY 40011

By Email

You can contact us to find way to donate through email and more:

 

friendsformichaelinc@gmail.com

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