Paraplegic Foundation
www.paraplegicfoundation.in
since 1968
paraplegic india,paraplegia,association,mumbai,india,paraplegic association,paraplegic india org,spinal cord injury
T-1,Old Barracks Of LTMG Hospital, Sion,
Mumbai, Maharashtra 400022
ph: 91-22-24071671
fax: 91-22-24033669
alt: 91-9223549042
parapleg
pf-in the news
Paraplegic Foundation In the News.....
Stunning Recovery: Paraplegic tailor takes small steps towards self-reliance
NEERAD PANDHARIPANDE
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.
A man on wheelchair @ Paraplegic Foundation can inspire millions
As a part of the PULSE initiative, I am volunteering with Paraplegic Foundation (PF) & helping them in improving their operational efficiency. The motto of the PF is to achieve transformative change among people with disabilities enabling the community to lead a life of dignity and opportunity. The time I am spending here, feels like nothing I could have ever imagined…it is wonderful beyond imagination!!
Personally, I am inspired by people with special abilities, few such people I am working with in the PF office as well. Most of all, I am inspired by their zest for life, positive outlook and enjoying every moment for what it is today.There are moments which have left indelible imprints in my mind & one such experience is interacting with an accountant, Rajendra Bhai & knowing about him was very touching & inspiring.
Rajendra’s tragic journey began at the age of three years, when the monster called polio engulfed his both legs & rendered him severely disabled & his destiny didn’t allow him to continue his schooling beyond 10th standard. Like many, his circumstances forced him to search for a job. Rajendra started working in Paraplegic foundation as a helper in workshop, soon he realised the importance of education & decided to continue his study but for many people like Rajendra, education is a daydream. They have to choose between stomach & classroom, but despite the hardship, he decided to work in a day time & study in college at night. That wasn’t at all easy for him to climb up & down from his fourth floor room as a toddler & to travel another 10 miles from his tricycles after completing day’s exhaustive work but he did, he completed his graduation in Commerce stream & well deservingly promoted to work as accountant here. But sometime we forget that cruelty of destiny knows no boundary, one fine morning his only child succumbed to fatal brain haemorrhage, the brutal news blown away his mind & shattered him into pieces. But he is not an ordinary mortal soul like us, he was determined to face the ordeal and conquer over the challenges life offers every time, soon he joined the accounting software “Tally” learning classes & mastered it within few months. To my simple question, what keeps you so motivated? His answer is “if there is a life, there will be challenges & I have only determined not to surrender but to overcome & being handicapped is just a state of mind to me”. Hats off to your zeal for life Rajendra Bhai & salute to paraplegic foundation for inculcating such an attitude.
Link:
http://gskpulsevolunteers.com/2012/07/03/a-man-on-wheelchair-paraplegic-foundation-can-inspire-millions/
Rehab of paraplegics delays construction of metro blood bank
Tue Oct 09 2012,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:
T-1,Old Barracks Of LTMG Hospital, Sion,
Mumbai, Maharashtra 400022
ph: 91-22-24071671
fax: 91-22-24033669
alt: 91-9223549042
parapleg