The Spinal Cord Society is once again inviting people to our Walk and Wheel event set for May 7, starting at 10 a.m. from Ceal Tingley Park.
This is our 15th year doing this fundraiser, of course our hope is that we won’t have to do many more because the hope of a cure is the goal.
That being said the goal of all charitable organizations should be to find a solution to the problem they face and then dissolve.
To raise money just so some programs can keep on existing makes no sense at all. In the case of spinal cord injuries, people can’t fight this by taking prescribed medicines to help us walk or feel, they do work to help those having issues with major spasms or with some people pain. Spinal cord injuries are like snow flakes, not all are the same. Injured people can have the same level of injury but face different issues. There are what is known as complete and incomplete injuries. In the case of incomplete injuries you can be a quadraplegic and yet be able to walk or have limited movement or have some sensation in parts of the body that are below the level of one’s injury site. The same can be said for those with parapeligia.
When a person suffers a spinal cord injury, the help you receive is physiotherapy, that’s it.
The physiotherapist can only work with the injured person to teach them how to go about daily life with what remaining body functions they have left.
They strive, to their best ability, to strengthen the injured person and that is all they can do (it must be said, they do a good job.) Treatment is also given in the form of counselling for the mental state of an injured person, for coping can be a tough thing, it was and still is for many including myself.
In my case, however, I’m not much for talk and I’m not much for inspirational speeches, that kind of stuff doesn’t get people any closer to cure.
Hope is what the Spinal Cord Society is all about. Having a goal and doing its best to achieve it. Using funds raised to cure a problem, not using money for more useless programs. When will the goal be reached? I wish I knew. But progress is being made. This is not an easy science but it’s also not an impossible science. Anything is possible if priorities are put in the correct order. It’s time for the injured to push harder and speak out against the status quo. The truth is all public buildings by law are accessible, they may not be perfect but they work, so why keep putting more money into things that don’t require it?
Accessibility will never be perfect because we all are different and require different needs.
The one thing all spinal cord injured people have in common is that if we push for a cure then it will happen.
When the cure does come and if you’re happy being in a wheelchair then stay in one. This goal is also for those that have not yet suffered a spinal cord injury, trust me you don’t want one. You or someone you know in the future may unfortunately receive this unwanted gift.
When I hear of people suffering an injury it bothers me and my wish for them is that movement and sensation comes back.
Please help us help all, so come out on May 7 to participate. The time you commit will be very much appreciated. Keep in mind that refreshments will be served before or after, your choice.
For information or to take a pledge sheet please feel free to call Bill Carter at 250-992-5996 (home) or 205-992-1505 (work) anytime.
Bill Carter is a member of the Spinal Cord Society and Quesnel’s Walk and Wheel event organizer.
