14241 SW 120 ST Suite #107
Miami, FL 33186
Miami, FL 33186
When you think of history-makers, who comes to mind? Abraham Lincoln? Nelson Mandela? Amelia Earhart? These are all undoubtedly important figures, and if we are to add another name to that list, it will be Paula Craig MBE.
Twenty-one years after a supposedly tragic incident, Craig celebrated the anniversary of her accident by swimming the English stretch as part of a relay team. Despite a complete spinal cord injury that happened in 2001, she is now celebrated as the first woman with a complete spinal cord injury to swim the English Channel without a wetsuit. Her accomplishment is inspirational and was a history on its own. Her recovery process and achievement help plant seeds of hope for the spinal cord injury community.
On May 27, 2001, Craig got hit by a car while training for a triathlon. She was knocked off her bike and became paralyzed from the waist down. But she has proven that her grit and determination are stronger than her injury. Less than a year after her unfortunate accident, she made history when she became the first woman to complete the wheelchair London marathon as a runner and wheelchair athlete. Let’s learn more about her story to help inspire your journey in seeking therapy for spinal cord injury.
In Craig’s continuous pursuit of beating her spinal cord injury, she has shown that she can power through despite the known limitations set by her injury. A living proof that the body and mind can work together and achieve great things despite challenges and obstacles.
Craig is one of six swimmers who set off from Dover, England, to France at 2:48 a.m. on August 4. The entire swim covered 21 miles, with the team finishing after 14 hours and 3 minutes. Every swimmer swam for an hour in rotation until they reached France, with Craig powering through two-hour-long swims. She was also completing the challenge to raise money for a national spinal injury charity that had supported her since her accident.
One of the members of their swimming team narrated how Craig impressively manages to use her core strength to be able to swim long distances. Her bravery and determination also stand out and push her to defeat her injury. These remarkable qualities are also what many patients undergoing therapy for spinal cord injury in Miami have shown over the years.
Craig has a T12 spinal cord injury, a type that innervates the lower body, but generally, patients have complete control and function in their upper limbs and trunk. This type of spinal cord injury affects lower body functions such as walking and bowel and bladder functions.
Not all spinal cord injuries are the same. In our journey with our patients whom we help in their therapy for spinal cord injury in Miami, we find it essential for patients and their support team to understand that each patient will experience recovery a little differently. Several factors can affect spinal cord injury recovery, including:
The severity of your spinal cord injury is integral in anticipating your recovery time. A mild spinal cord injury shows excellent potential for recovery, but recovery will always require hard work, determination, and proper care, regardless of the severity of your SCI. One way to identify the severity of SCI is knowing if it is complete or incomplete.
Your spinal cord has 31 segments that support and activate movement and receive sensory information from different body parts. More functions can potentially be affected if your level of injury is high. Additionally, you may need to undergo intense rehabilitation to restore lost functionalities.
Developing other complications can significantly interfere with motivation and performance. If these complications don’t get addressed, they can impact your recovery time. Suppose you are trying to work around your condition and ensure a smooth therapy for spinal cord injury in Miami. In that case, we strongly recommend looking at the following risk factors to avoid complications:
Your recovery will involve a lot of work in retraining your brain, spinal cord, muscles, and nerves to all work together again. It is possible to recover affected functions following SCI. Here are four ways that may help you achieve quicker recovery:
This is essential for minimizing SCI damage. If your spinal cord is compressed longer, you might have to deal with more damage and disrupted physiological functions. Seeking immediate care following the injury can potentially reduce damage to the spinal cord and help lessen recovery time.
Every spinal cord injury for patients and their recovery process is unique. Hence, a personalized and tailored fit approach to rehabilitation is necessary to address the specific needs of each individual. Our team at iAM ABLE can help you develop a customized routine that fits your needs.
Physical and rehabilitative therapies are undeniably helpful, but you can also increase your progress and speed up your recovery by practicing your exercises and activities at home. You can supplement the short time you spend in your therapy session daily by practicing what you learn in therapy at home. It is important to always err on the side of caution, ensure you do not push your body too much, and have someone assist you if necessary to avoid secondary injuries.
Your diet influences your overall energy levels, mood, and body composition. These significant factors can affect your motivation and performance during rehabilitation and therapy. Therefore, make sure you stick with a diet adjustment that is realistically sustainable for the long term.
Recovery is unique to every individual. While some may learn to regain their function, others may not be able to have the same progress. In addition, focusing solely on the apparent physical recovery can also trigger demotivation and hopelessness and may make you feel overwhelmed. So it is essential to know that there are SCI recovery milestones that you can celebrate. Remember, progress is progress, regardless of how small you perceive them to be. Here are some milestones worth celebrating:
iAM ABLE is a reputable fitness and recovery facility that offers physical therapy for spinal cord injury in Miami. We can help provide unique recovery paths that are personalized and customized according to the needs of every individual. Our goal for you is to achieve the best possible advancement in your recovery from spinal cord injuries. We aim for you to reclaim your lives and regain your sense of independence by doing intense, exercise-based programs to fit your needs.
We also believe in recovery outside our facility. So, we found a way to be there for you after our sessions. We have put together this book called the 7 Unbelievably Important Steps to Take to Thrive after Paralysis. While we focus on physical therapy in our facility, we want to help you mentally prepare for your road to recovery. SCI recovery can be long, arduous, and full of challenges, but through this book, we want to tell you that you are not alone in this journey.
Grab our free e-book 7 Unbelievably Important Steps to Take to THRIVE after Paralysis by clicking the image below.
