Spotlight on SCI Rehab

By an act of Congress, September is Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month. And well it should be: one person becomes paralyzed every 48 seconds—in the U.S. alone. Advancements in treatment continue today but we have a long way to go. To draw attention to the needs of SCI victims (and before September is gone) I’d like to tell about a recent visit I made to a fabulous clinic in Tampa.

Built from the ground up and owned and operated by Romy Camargo, an army veteran (and himself a C3 quad from a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan), this facility is on the cutting edge. Stay in Step, a non-profit, offers state-of-the-art recovery to individuals with SCI in and around the bay area of Florida. Just opening in June of this year, people are on the waiting list already, and this is no surprise. Not only does it have a welcoming and family-friendly feel and the best of rehabilitation equipment (including the Rifton TRAM), but it also has the heart and dedicated staff to match. Romy and his team do not settle for anything less than the highest quality of service and care for the patients who come to the facility and this often goes further than just rehab.

As Romy’s quote below reminds us, there are many people living with SCI who overcome daily obstacles with an amazing determination. But they need our support. And September is not over yet.

Nobody expected me to live.

But I did.

Medical experts told me I would never breathe without a ventilator.

But I do.

Doctors said I would never again be able to walk or use my arms.

But I will.