Where Incredible Happens fundraiser launch event
The Toronto Rehab Foundation launched an ambitious fundraising campaign in support of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute this week. The campaign is aiming to raise $100-million, which Toronto Rehab Foundation President Cindy Yelle called “one of the city’s most ambitious fundraising campaigns.”
“But it is also one of its most important,” Yelle continued, “considering the positive effect it can have on the lives of people in need of physical rehabilitation after trauma, accidents, strokes and even cancer.”
Indeed, Toronto Rehab is a vital resource for acquired brain injury and spinal cord injury victims who are now living with disabilities. The Institute is considered the “world’s number one research rehabilitation centre,” and is at the cutting edge of rehabilitation program development.
Examples of Toronto Rehab’s life-changing work are plentiful. Recently, CBC’s documentary series Keeping Canada Alive looked at the story of Alex Dritsas who, at age 28, was left paralyzed from the neck down after a collision during a recreational hockey game resulted in a serious spinal cord injury. After emergency surgery, Dritsas underwent respiratory therapy, occupational therapy, recreational therapy, and physiotherapy at Toronto Rehab’s Lyndhurst Centre.
“Until I got here every single person believed I would never walk again,” Dritsas said in a Toronto Rehab Foundation news story. “Then literally on day one Jamie (physiotherapist) stood me up with my brother and got me on my feet for the first time in over a month.”
Today, Dritsas has relearned to stand, walk, and climb stairs. As an outpatient in the Spinal Cord Rehab program, he has returned to work as a realtor, and is hoping to get back on the ice as soon as possible.
Although moving, Dritsas’ story isn’t entirely unique: in December 2012, Robert MacDonald suffered a spinal cord injury from 30-foot fall while on vacation in Mexico. After years of treatment at the Lyndhurst Centre, MacDonald completed the 2015 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon, raising upwards of $15,000 for the Toronto Rehab Foundation.
“This isn’t about me,” MacDonald said in an interview with the Toronto Star. “This is about the next me.”
Toronto Rehab’s job is larger, though, than fixing one spinal cord injury at a time. A recent study co-authored by the Institute’s Dr. Mark Bayley indicates that the number of Canadians living with long-term disability from strokes may rise up to 80 per cent over the next two decades.
“The expected increase is due to the aging population and improved early stroke care resulting in more stroke survivors,” explained Dr. Bayley. “As a result, there are more people living with the effects of stroke and this study quantifies the size of the impact. The results help us assess what the needs for rehab and community support will be for stroke survivors living with disability.”
With rehabilitative services likely to become increasingly necessary as the Canadian population ages, Toronto Rehab will have a growing role in keeping the population healthy. The Toronto Rehab Foundation’s $100-million fundraising goal will, according to a news release, accomplish the following:
- Help fund the hospital’s acquisition of advanced technologies and experiments
- Support facility construction and renovation
- Provide financial support for research, patient programs, and health education
- Attract and retain clinician scientists
- Endow academic chairs for healthcare practitioners
- Build endowments for annual patient programs, continuing medical education, and clinical research.
Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers is proud to support the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute’s vital research, which has crucial implications for victims of spinal cord injury, acquired brain injury, stroke, and other traumas. If you or a member of your family has suffered a serious personal injury, contact Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation today.
Greg Neinstein
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