#spinal cord injury
A breakthrough neuromodulation system rapidly restores motor function in patients with a severe spinal cord injury (SCI), new research shows.
The study demonstrated that an epidural electrical stimulation (EES) system developed specifically for spinal cord injuries enabled three men with complete paralysis to stand, walk, cycle, swim, and move their torso within 1 day.
SCIs involve severed connections between the brain and extremities. To compensate for these lost connections, researchers have investigated stem cell therapy, brain-machine interfaces, and powered exoskeletons.
However, these approaches aren’t yet ready for prime time.
Josie Aslakson is a 25 year old paralympic wheelchair basketball player for Team USA.
Josie was born in Edina, a small city in the state of Minnesota. While born able-bodied, she sustained a complete spinal cord injury in a car accident at the age of 5. Despite receiving excellent hospital care, this meant she would be completely paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life and that she would never have any feeling in her legs again.
Fortunately, the accident didn’t cause any other medical issues and Josie grew up in excellent health. Obviously, growing up as a wheelchair user comes with some challenges from time to time, but while however she sometimes felt sorry that she couldn’t participate in everything her friends and classmates did, Josie always stood out with her extremely positive attitude!
At the age of 13, Josie was practicing at one of her archery lessons, and the basketball coach(who was training at the same time) pushed her to try basketball. The coach immediately spotted that Josie had quite some talent and encouraged her to give it a go.
In the beginning Josie played together with the ‘regular’ basketball team of Jordan High School, which she attended and contrary to what you might expect, she matched the level of her teammates very well and even turned out as one of the top players of the team!
After high school, Josie switched to the womens wheelchair basketball team of the the University of Texas at Arlington, the Lady Movin’ Mavs. This is where her talent fully blossomed and in 2014, she was selected for the World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Incheon, South Korea where she and her teammates finished second(after Australia). In 2018, she then played for Team USA in the World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, where she finished 6’th.
Now, Josie is preparing for her first ever Paralympic Games, which will start in a couple of weeks in Tokyo, Japan! Good luck Josie
If you’re interested, you can check out Josie’s Instagram page. I can also really recommend the great interview Josie recently had with Palms to Pines Parasports⬇️
Good luck to Josie and Team USA!
Geovana Luiza is a stunning 21 year old model, blogger and vlogger from Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.
Geovana was born with spina bifida myelomeningocele. This is a congenital condition in which there grows a malformation in the spine during pregnancy causing damage to the spinal cord. In Geovana’s case, her spinal cord was completely severed and she was diagnosed with a complete spinal cord injury. Because of this, she has been paralysed from her waist down for all her life and never had any feeling in her lower limbs. She also has a serious degree of both scoliosis and kyphosis(an unnatural sideways and front-to-back curvature of the spine).
Besides this, she also has a condition called hydrocephalus, meaning that there was an abnormal buildup of fluid in her brain. This could luckily be solved by the placing of a tube that drains the excess amount of liquid(also known as a shunt).
Because of the excellent treatment she received in the hospital, Geovana grew up in perfect health. Nonetheless, she often noticed she was looked at in a different way because of her wheelchair. For example, people often think she needs help with practically anything and there have even been cases where she was approached as if she was mentally disabled because of her wheelchair!
These prejudices couldn’t be further from the truth though. Of course, changing a lightbulb would be very difficult for her, but outside these kind of things, she lives completely independent from others and does everything by herself.
To get rid of these kinds of prejudices and to educate people about the life of people with disabilities, Geovana started a YouTube channel where she talks about her life as a wheelchair user. If you’re interested, just check out the link down here ⬇️
Also, feel free to follow Geovana on Instagram or to visit her Facebook page by clicking the link down below ⬇️
Shannon Kelly is a 27 year old journalist, writer and travel blogger who wrote lots of articles and stories about her trips around the world!
When Shannon was just 2 years old, she was diagnosed with a spinal tumor. Fortunately, the tumor could be completely removed. Nevertheless, her spinal cord was damaged in such extent that it left her completely paralyzed from her waist down.
Ever since Shannon was young, she had an adventurous spirit, a passion for nature and a huge love for animals. After graduating from high school, Shannon wanted to get out of her comfort zone and travel abroad before starting college; “I was 17, in a wheelchair, and a newbie to international travel, but I didn’t want to let any of these things stop me from having the adventure of a lifetime”, She says about the beginning of her very first trip to Costa Rica. This turned out to be such a success that she has made many more since then! If you’d like to know more about all of Shannon’s travels, I can really recommend you to read the story she wrote for HuffPost! ⬇️
My Perspective on Inclusive Study Abroad
Shannon soon felt that all the great experiences she had during her travels were worth sharing with the rest of the world. That’s why she started writing a blog, and it didn’t take long before some of her stories were published in various newspapers and magazines!
Many of Shannon’s articles are about her own experiences as a traveler in a wheelchair, which are packed with useful tips and tricks for people with disabilities! Nonetheless, she also wrote some great stuff for the ‘general’ traveler like sightseeing ideas and 'things to do’. If you’re interested in reading some of Shannon’s work, you can visit her website, where you’ll find a portfolio with references to everything she wrote! ⬇️
Another long overdue drop but just in time for #SpinalCordInjuryAwarenessMonth!
Produced, recorded, directed, edited by me. ||
I know it’s long overdue but the visuals for No Chance are up!
New music coming
Check me out in the latest issue of @crushfanzine where I discuss my music and inspirations↓
http://crushfanzine.com/product/issue-17-amplified-lashana-lynch/
Issue #17 “AMPLIFIED” LASHANA LYNCH
Also follow me on ig @iamoppo+iamoppo.com!
My life really just went from shit to shit fuck with one quick fall
I know this sounds dramatic but I don’t understand how a person can feel THIS MUCH PAIN and not be actively dying.
MY LEG IS FLICKERING
Like mini spasms. One under my butt. One in my thigh.
It’s not extremely painful but it’s really unpleasant and mildly infuriating.
I have my foot on my affected leg in a heat pad because it feels like it’s in a bucket of ice water, like an emergency level of cold, but when I touch my foot with my hand it’s warm. It’s so painfully cold.
Nerve pain is hell.
Am I getting used to a third of my foot being numb, or am I regaining sensation?
