INTERNATIONAL EDUCATORS WITHOUT BORDERS

"A lot of academic don't care about solutions, they first want to write about problems."

- Prof. Anna Hunter

The Marathon of Hope (Part VII)

By Prof. Talaat I. Farag

No one is immune from having a health crisis at some point in her/his life journey. Babies may be born with major congenital anomalies, children in the pre-school age may suffer from autism, accidents may occur at any age, and with increasing life expectancies, many diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's are much more common today. The first article of this series presented a countdown of eight inspirational stories of heroism over debilitating physical ailments. The following real-life stories illustrate the remarkable achievements of different people suffering from varying health problems and adversities that serve as examples of how crises can be overcome. The extraordinary achievements of the Canadian runner Terry Fox and American cyclist Lance Armstrong were featured in the January 2007 issue. They have become some of the most prominent symbols of battle against disease in the modern age. In this seventh part of the series, we present the stories of eight heroes who have overcome their various medical problems and adversities or helped change the way we combat disabilities.

Barbara Guerra: The Wingless Mother

At the age of two, little Barbara Guerra had an electrical accident while living in Pasadena, Texas which cost her both of her arms. Nonetheless, the precocious child, with the support of her family and assistance of trainers, dedicated teachers and the effort of specialists at the Texas Institute for Rehabilitation has grown up to be a functional member of society and continues to amaze all those around her. Barbie refuses to consider herself handicapped and has gone about her life surpassing even those who are able-bodied. "I'm sure I have limitations, but everyone does" she once told a reporter. Growing up wasn't easy for Barbie who had to had to learn how to do everything with her feet after the failure of prosthetic limbs. She credits her mother's determination, support and perseverance for her remarkable ability. Now a resident of Mesa, Arizona, Barbie has startled her community with her determination and self-will. She can shop, drive a car, teach aerobics class, apply make up, play the organ, use a computer and raise her children (the photo to the right is a still from a video showing Barbie petting her son with her feet) without the use of her arms. Over the years, television reporters have followed her to track how she comes with otherwise simple tasks on an everyday basis and to document her extraordinary every move. Just a few years ago, Barbie decided to compete in a national fitness and bodybuilding contest in Texas where she amazed judges, contestants and spectators alike as she walked confidently onto the stage and showcased the result hours of fitness training. Since then, she's become a regular fixture in fitness and bodybuilding circuits. Barbie is engaged with two boys and helps raise her fiancé's two children all while balancing a full work schedule that includes running a travel company. She is also determined to go back to school and become an Occupational therapist so she may help others who faced similar challenges as her own. To watch a video about Barbie's spectacular life, see this ABC News report.

Semi-paralyzed Mr. Trevor Griffith

In January 2008, after an earlier tumble in his snowy driveway, the 58-year-old banker, Trevor Griffith, had a muscle spasm, and fell backward towards the bathroom floor. He could not get up and could not move his arms, legs, and anything below his neck. He was taken to Toronto Western Hospital, where he met Dr. Michael Fehlings, medical director of the Krembil Neuroscience Centre and head of the spinal program at Toronto Western Hospital, a surgeon who specializes in experimental operations that can help people with severe spinal cord injuries walk again. Decompression surgery offered the best hope of recovery, freeing the area around the spinal cord of any bone, blood, or other tissue putting pressure on it. This operation is a breakthrough in treating severe acute spinal cord injuries caused by car accidents or falls. In performing this operation, both Toronto Western and Vancouver General hospitals, two Canadian medical facilities, worked in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and the University of Maryland. Twenty percent of those being treated with this procedure end up walking which is a remarkable outcome for traumas once thought to be irreversible. After extensive rehabilitation, Mr. Griffith is walking again and is getting ready to return to his job at the Royal Bank of Canada. In 2009, Toronto Western Hospital is participating in a new clinical trial for a drug called Riluzole, designed to reduce the amount of secondary damage from spinal injuries.
 

Post-menopausal Pregnancy

After four decades during which the 60-year-old Calgary woman, Ranjit Hayer, and her husband attempted to conceive, she had two boys by c-section at Calgary's Foothills Hospital last February. After waiting so long, they are extremely overjoyed seeing their twin boys born seven weeks prematurely. The Hayer's long path to parenthood began soon after they married in India, 43 years ago, and later moved to Canada. Over the years, they tried unsuccessfully to conceive both by natural and medical means. Last year, after she was refused treatment at a Canadian fertility clinic because of her age (since fertility laws in Canada place a barrier on treating women older than 50 years), she travelled to India for donor eggs, and became pregnant with triplets. The doctors were forced to abort one fetus to ensure the survival of the other two. Last year, 70-year-old Indian Omkari Panwar, became the world's oldest new mother, giving birth to twins due to IVF treatments. Many have criticized post-menopausal pregnancies, since there is a much greater possibility that the parents die before the child fully matures. Also, there is a potential harm to the post-menopausal mother, whereby she is more prone to hypertension, toxemia, and gestational diabetes.
 

Kenneth Singer's Low-vision

Kenneth Singer, the 57-year-old Toronto lawyer barely has any vision at all, and depends on specialized equipment to help him read documents at work and do activities with his family. His assistant used the photocopier to print out documents in extra-large print. Now, he has other technology that helps. One is a desktop-sized closed-circuit TV, which consists of a video camera and computer monitor. You put the document you need to read on a tray below the camera, then the image is beamed up on the screen and is magnified. He was diagnosed with Fuchs' Spot, a degenerative condition that affects the macula, the part of the retina responsible for the most detailed central part of vision. The condition gives signs similar to age-related macular degeneration. Mr. Singer is a relatively lucky person, in that he was referred to one of Canada's few specialists in Low-Vision Rehabilitation (LVR), Dr. Samuel Markowitz, at the University of Toronto. The idea behind LVR, is to help patients through the use of personalized devices and training to use what little vision they have remaining as effectively as possible. After receiving a detailed assessment, Mr. Singer was prescribed two devices: a two-inch long telescope that attaches to his glasses and a pair of glasses with prismatic lenses. The telescope is attached to a string that he wears around his neck. He places it in front of his better eye when he needs to see anything at a distance. The prism glasses look like regular ones, but work by redirecting light to non-diseased parts of the retina. LVR is a multi-disciplinary fields that includes ophthalmologists, optometrists, opticians, exceptional therapists, and others. This allows people with low-vision to keep their jobs longer and maintain some level of independence.

Barbara Ann Scott: Canada's Sweetheart

Born on May 9, 1928, Barbara Ann Scott steered Canada with a win on unpredictable ice surfaced at St. Moritz, Switzerland when she was 19. Sixty-one years after her triumph, she is still famous. She is the first and only Canadian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in figure-skating. She received the Order of Canada in 1991, Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998, and most recently received the Order of Ontario from Lieutenant-Governor David Onley last March. After Barbara retired, she turned professional and skated all over the continent, dashing all of the records set by her idol, Sonja Henie. Even after she ended her skating career and got married, she has taken up breeding horses for little country shows, and has one more than 400 first-place ribbons with one horse alone. She mentioned, "I learned at an early age that a temperature of -20 Celsius may not be comfortable, but does not prevent skating." She lives with her 85-year-old husband and said they refer to each other as "the little old couple."

Elizabeth Edwards: The Faithful Wife

Elizabeth Edwards recently published her memoirs, Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adventures. She was the girlfriend and then wife of John Edwards, former US Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate, who reported to her that Rielle Hunter, a freelance videographer and mother of his possible love child, accosted him with the words, "You are so hot," outside the hotel. In 2006, Mr. Edwards revealed his affair to her, and as a good wife, she portrays her philandering husband as a partial victim in this case. Mrs. Edwards is now suffering from stage 4 breast cancer, and is recounting the tragic death of her 16-year-old son, Wade, in 1996. This faithful wife and respected lawyer, is restoring some dignity to her family when she made the following statement, "Our family has been through a lot. Some caused by nature, some caused by human weakness...None of these has been easy.  But we have stood with one another through them all.  Although John [Edwards] believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him." Mrs. Edwards suffered psychological pain, like Mrs. Hillary Clinton, when her husband US President Bill Clinton was investigated for a sexual scandal with Monika Lewinsky. Both Elizabeth Edwards and Hillary Clinton did an excellent effort in their public display of forgiveness towards their political ambitious husbands.
 

Annabel Karmel and Children's Well-being

Annabel Karmel never forgets the nightmare of 21-years-ago - the death of her 3-months-old daughter Natasha of a rare viral infection. This accident pushed her to a career dedicated to children's well-being and has become now Britain's favorite children's food expert. She is lucky to have become pregnant 5-months after her daughter's death. Now, she has three healthy children: Nicholas, 20, Lara, 18, and Scarlett, 16. She is a classical musician who is always passionate about cooking. She began to research infant nutrition at the Institute of Child Health, attached to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. In 1991, she wrote, The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner, which sold more than three million copies. In 16 years, she wrote 13 books on everything from family meals to cooking with children. In 2006, she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to child nutrition. Annabel Karmel's family cookbook and a TV-series on cooking with children, show how Natasha's death changed her career path completely. She says, "It made me have different values. Everything seems superficial. It sounds a bit cliché to say, but you want to do something that is more meaningful."

Infonaut Inc.: The Unique Infection Mapping System

In 1854, Dr. John Snow, plotted cholera cases on a map of London, England, to find the source of a serious outbreak that was killing hundreds of people. It became apparent that the biggest clusters of the disease were near a public water pump on Broad Street. Dr. Snow was able to stop the spread of cholera by shutting down the water source. After nearly one and a half centuries, a small Canadian firm named Infonaut Inc. based in Toronto, is using 21st-century software to create maps with similar goals. The chief executive officer, Niall Wallace and his partner chief operating officer, Matt McPherson, both former IT consultants for the Ontario Government, created the company after helping craft some of the recommendations that resulted from the SARS outbreak of 2003. They understood the value of visually representing real-time infection data. The company has created three software products that turn infection information into maps, which will soon be marketed commercially. The first is "Infection Watch Live", which gathers data from 14 hospital emergency rooms in eastern Ontario and use it to create publically accessible maps that show where in the region cases of influenza and gastrointestinal diseases are active. The second program, "Hospital Watch Live", which is being tested in Salt St. Marie, uses radio sensors attached to a hospital's employees, patients, and equipment to create a detailed record of all movements and interactions. This complex mapping is helpful to monitor and stop the spread of C. difficile and other super bugs. Another program, "Regional Watch Live," generates maps and reports for regional health professionals by merging lab test results with a range of other information, which may be useful with the H1N1 flu. There is no question that there is a public gain with the introduction of Infonaut programs.

Other Articles in this Series:

Talaat I. Farag. "The Marathon of Hope: How to Conquer Any Health Crisis," The Ambassadors Magazine - International Educators Without Borders. Vol. 8, Issue. URL: http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue18/educators.htm

Talaat I. Farag. "The Marathon of Hope (Part II): Learning from those who conquered disease?," The Ambassadors Magazine - International Educators Without Borders. Vol. 9, Issue 1, URL: http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue19/educators.htm

Talaat I. Farag. "The Marathon of Hope (Part III): Learning from those who conquered disease?," The Ambassadors Magazine - International Educators Without Borders. Vol. 10, Issue 2, URL: http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue22/educators.htm

Talaat I. Farag. "The Marathon of Hope (Part IV). "The Wheel-Chaired Celebrities." The Ambassadors Magazine - International Educators Without Borders. Vol. 11, Issue 1, URL: http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue23/educators.htm

Talaat I. Farag. "The Marathon of Hope (Part V). "The Marathon of Hope (Part V). Lessons from Celebrities with Down Syndrome. The Ambassadors Magazine - International Educators Without Borders. Vol. 11, Issue 2, URL: http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue24/educators.htm.

Talaat I. Farag. "The Marathon of Hope (Part VI). The Ambassadors Magazine - International Educators Without Borders. Vol. 12, Issue 1, URL: http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue25/educators.htm.

Prof. Talaat I. Farag, MD, FRCP, FACP, FACMG is a former adjunct professor at Dalhousie University in Canada. He is the founder of The Ambassadors Research Foundation in 1998. Email: tfarag@dal.ca. 

 

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