Sep 25, 2012  Express India.Com

It has been a month since Uma Shankar Moriya returned to his Nalasopara home after a life-changing ordeal. Afflicted with paraplegia, a condition which results from damage to the lower spinal cord and leaves most wheelchair-bound for life, the tailor is taking small, but confident steps towards “self-reliance” and “self-sufficiency”.

While paraplegia leaves a patient with no sensation and reflexes in the lower part of the body, it also affected Moriya’s bladder movement and caused loss of sensation in his legs.

With a lot of effort, he has started using the sewing machine again. He is also able to stand for a short period. But the journey has been tough. “When I first started experiencing pain in my legs, I thought it must be a minor issue. But the pain kept increasing. Finally, one day, I found my legs had lost sensation. It was scary,” Moriya said.

After an operation at Sion Hospital, he was referred to Paraplegic Foundation.

Set up more than 40 years ago by a group of social workers and doctors, the foundation in the barracks of Sion Hospital can provide physiotherapy, acupuncture and muscle exercise treatments to 20 patients at a time.

“Patients stay here for six months to two years, depending on their condition,” said Rajendra Mandvekar, a workshop manager at the foundation that also gives vocational training to patients to help rehabilitate them.

Moriya, who was at the foundation for about ten months, was given a sewing machine.

“I have started using the sewing machine again. I can’t work for long, but I try and do my best. The eldest of my four sons is working at a carpentry shop. Together, we earn a decent living for the family,” he said.

“It is very difficult for a person with such a condition to stand up without support and start working again in such a short period,” said Mandvekar.

Link.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/stunning-recovery-paraplegic-tailor-takes-small-steps-towards-selfreliance/1007414/

The World Bank-funded project was named Centre of Excellence for Transfusion Medicine

More than a year after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation gave the final nod for the Rs 340 crore project of the Metro Blood Bank in the city, construction work is yet to begin. Rehabilitation has proved to be a major concern as the Paraplegic Foundation on the barracks premises of the Sion Hospital where the blood bank is to be built, is yet to receive a formal notification of the area where they will be shifted to.

“There have been many discussions with the dean of Sion Hospital, and we were even shown a few areas where we could possibly be shifted but nothing concrete has been decided yet. We have demanded that the new place have the same area as the current one and it should be on the ground floor, considering physical condition of the patients. The dean has assured us that our demands will be met,” said an official of the Paraplegic Foundation.

Members of the Foundation were initially opposed to the construction of the blood bank on the Sion Hospital premises for fear of being displaced.

The NGO currently has 25 paraplegic patients admitted with them in addition to a training centre with around 30 physically challenged persons. “Now, that the Centre has instructed for the construction to take place, we have no choice but to shift. However, the rehabilitation of the paraplegic patients have to be kept in mind. The patients need space to do physiotherapy and other activities, and these things cannot be ignored while providing an alternative space,” the official said.

The World Bank-funded project was named as the Centre of Excellence for Transfusion Medicine (COE) and was to be facilitated by the Maharashtra District AIDS Control Society (MDACS), the local branch of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).

The COE will be a state-of-the-art centre with a capacity to store up to 1 lakh units of blood. Among other facilities, the centre will have a nucleic acid testing facility, biotechnology lab, cord banking and stem cell facilities.

A few months ago, the parliamentary standing committee on health had pulled up the National AIDS Control Organisation for failing to make progress in establishing the metro blood banks at New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Former dean of Sion Hospital, Dr Sandhya Kamat, however, said the construction work will begin soon.

“All the inspections and necessary approvals have been made. The work should begin in a month,” Kamat said.

Link:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rehab-of-paraplegics-delays-construction-of-metro-blood-bank/1013943/2