The Accident
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Our Family in
Luckier Times |
On July 4, 1998, the world didn’t
change very much – it was
only one day, after all –
but Jeff’s place in it changed a lot. While our family was visiting
friends, Jeff dove into their swimming pool and broke two bones high in
his spine, just below his skull. As the neck bones broke, there was a
sudden compression of Jeff’s spinal cord. A lesion – call it a
bruise – developed in the spinal cord at the point where the neck had
broken.
As a result, Jeff became a “high
quadriplegic.” He was paralyzed by a
Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) at the C1/C2 level: the first and second
bones in the cervical region of the spine. He lost feeling in and
motor control over every part of his body below the point of the break.
His doctors have said that the injury is complete and permanent. Permanent
means there is no
 known
cure. Complete means that the cord was bruised all the way across;
and the loss of function below the injury is total.
Jeff became one of thousands of
people who become partially or totally paralyzed
each year. Only a few years ago, people who suffered injuries as profound
as his would have died. Although a cure for paralysis has not been found,
the medical system has made substantial progress in saving the life of
paralysis victims; and new technology has added to the quality of their
lives and the degree of their independence.
Statistically, Jeff and his
injury have a lot of company. According to Cure Paralysis Now, 61%
of spinal cord injury victims are between the ages of 16 and 30. Diving
accounts for 66% of sports-related spinal cord injuries -- even if you
include rugged sports such as boxing, wrestling, hockey, football, and all
the other “contact” sports. Maybe they should wear swim trunks on the
gridiron, but helmets and pads in your Uncle Tony’s backyard pool.
In the following pages you will
learn about some of the technology that is being used to sustain Jeff and
enlarge his capabilities. We hope every visitor to our site will be
informed and even entertained. Our special purpose is to share what we
have learned with those who need the information most. If you know of
someone whose life has been touched by paralysis, please tell them about
our site.
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