The Derby City Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association Network- Serving Kentuckiana.
Message From the President
Dear Members & Friends-
November’s meeting will be held at Frazier Institute, 220 Abraham Flexner Way, Louisville, 10th floor dining room, at 6:30 p.m. Refreshments provided.
We will have our annual Christmas party in December, in lieu of our regular meeting. Details forthcoming in next issue.
- David Allgood
From the Internet –ed
COURT TO DECIDE IF STEM CELL SURGERY IS COVERED
By Dennis Pelham
A Manitou Beach man told a jury Tuesday about regaining some control over the lower part of his body after a stem cell surgical procedure on his crushed spinal cord. The Lenaawee County Circuit Court is to begin deciding today if the treatment was “reasonably necessary” for coverage under Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance law.
Home Owners Insurance Co. is being sued for refusing to reimburse the $51,000 Kevin Krohn spent to have the procedure done in Portugal in 2005, claiming it does not meet the legal test for treatments it must pay for under the no-fault law.
Krohn said the improved quality of life leaves no doubt in his mind that the experimental treatment was necessary. Four years after he was left a Paraplegic from car crash injuries, Krohn regained bladder and bowel control and is able to move his legs and hips. His overall health has improved.
“Absolutely. I believe I owed it to my wife
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From the Internet—ed.
DISABLED ADVOCATES
PUSH DISNEY WORLD, SEA WORLD TO ALLOW SEGWAYS
By Scott Powers
When James Nappier, a petty officer in the Navy Reserve, first rode his new Segway scooter out into his Loxahatchee neighborhood, he felt emotions that were rare since he got home from Iraq.
On the two-wheeled, electric scooter, he could get around easily. That felt like personal freedom. Standing on the upright vehicle, he could look neighbors in the eyes, not the belt buckles. That felt like equality.
“It’s been a godsend, because I can get out and get around on it,” said Nappier, 49, who suffered leg and arm nerve damage in a May 2004 mortar attack in Ramadi, Iraq.
“I try to take it to all the places here that I can.”
But he can’t take it everywhere. Disney and SeaWorld Orlando won’t allow visitors to use Segways, citing safety concerns.
“We’re not turning people away,” Disney World spokeswoman Kim Prunty said. “We’re turning away a particular form of transportation.”
Earlier this year, Epcot officials wouldn’t let Nappier enter on his Segway, forcing him to reluctantly use a wheelchair pushed by his wife, Lacey.
Segway advocates plan to turn up the heat in efforts to get Disney and SeaWorld to allow Segways as wheelchair alternatives.
Much of the push is coming from an organization called Disability Rights Advocates for Technology, or
