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The Greater NY Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association has been working hard with Mount Sinai’s Department of Rehabilitation to enhance the quality of life for SCI patients both while they are here in the Medical Center and after they are discharged.
Inpatients are enjoying a Wii machine that the Chapter recently presented to KCC 2. Recreational therapists, Jason Schwab and Jessica Lane were delighted to receive this latest tool for their rehab arsenal and are already planning virtual bowling and tennis tournaments for KCC 2. They will be working with the PT and OT therapists on developing individualized programs to help newly injured spinal cord patients have fun while working on their balance and coordination.
Chapter members also brainstormed with Rose Marie Faotto and the KCC2 Therapy Department to design the SCI Survival Bag for patients about to be discharged examine our new SCI Survival Bag for patients about to be discharged. Each SCI patient at Mount Sinai will go home with a wheelchair back pack filled with helpful items such as a basic wheelchair repair kit, a spare inner tube, wheelchair gloves, a cup holder that attaches to the chair, a reacher and a copy of Gary Karp’s bible for wheelers Life on Wheels – little things that members agree make surviving SCI in the real world outside the hospital a bit easier.
“Reinventing Yourself After SCI” is an innovative program NYCSCIA sponsored for the Do It! Program. Through this program internationally known motivational speaker and life coach, Scott Chesney has been working with SCI outpatients to help them develop the tools they need to transition into the next step after rehab – living their lives and realizing their dreams. A two-time world traveler and a navigator of life with paralysis for over two decades, Scott is able to use his unique perspective to inspire participants as both a peer and a roll model.
Lastly, Mount Sinai SCI Rehab alumni, Ethan Ruby received the 2009 NYCSCIA Humanitarian Award in recognition of his unfailing commitment to the SCI community. Ethan has been a generous supporter of Mount Sinai’s Life Challenge Program and the Chapter’s Andrew Bryce Life Challenge Scholarship Fund which has enabled so many SCI patients to take part in Jim Cesario’s action adventure trips. He has also partnered with NYCSCIA on their Urban Outings initiative, underwriting 50% of the cost for these monthly community trips which empower new wheelers to get out and experience different venues through out the city – free of charge. From bowling at Chelsea Piers and taking the Circle Line tour around Manhattan to having a Super Bowl party in Brooklyn, participants learn to negotiate the city in their wheelchairs and advocate for themselves under the guidance of more experienced peers so that they gain confidence in themselves and their own independence.