For Immediate Release
Contact: Derek T. Berry
Ph: 202.877.1975
Media Relations Manager
Derek.T.Berry@medstar.net
Washington, D.C. – December 20, 2011 – Winter is here and it’s time to think about how you can continue to have fun despite the snow and ice. Adaptive downhill skiing may provide the answer! Team Members at National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) have produced three new videos for beginning, adaptive skiers. Newbie skiers Dominique Harris and Chanelle Houston worked with us to show how to get ready to ski, how to get up to the top of the hill, and how to glide on down. Dominique and Chanelle have spinal cord injuries (SCI). Dominique’s level of injury is C5-6 (tetra-/quadriplegia); Chanelle’s is T6 (paraplegia). Both have full head and neck movement, good shoulder muscles, but complete paralysis of their body and legs. Chanelle has full use of her hands but Dominique has no finger or wrist movement.
Topics covered in the three videos include:
- How to dress to ski
- How to transfer from your wheelchair to the ski
- How to be secure and protect your skin while skiing
- How your adaptive ski coach will work with you to make your ski trip enjoyable
- How to ride the ski lift - Beginning and intermediate techniques for coming down the hill
- Reassurance for your possible concerns about speed, cold, and falling.
As is the case before starting any new physical activity, consult with your health care team before hitting the slopes. Also make sure you are prepared with the right clothing and equipment to meet your needs.
Adaptive skiing programs are available through NRH as well as throughout the country. Adaptive Ski and Sport Programs has information about adaptive programs in United States, Canada and Europe.
What is Adaptive Skiing? provides general information about adaptive skiing and the different kinds of adaptive ski equipment available. The three, how to ski videos created by our NRH team are part of a library of videos NRH is producing with help from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation. The purpose of the “how to” video library is to provide a variety of models for persons with SCI to observe and consider as they work to learn different ways to carry out activities they engaged in -- or hoped to engage in -- before the injury.
Click here to watch the videos.
Click here to learn more about NRH's Adaptive Sports programs.
National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) is a private, not-for-profit facility with 137 beds located in Northwest Washington, D.C. NRH’s services are designed specifically for the rehabilitation of individuals with disabling injuries and illnesses such as stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury and disease, arthritis, amputations, post-polio syndrome, chronic pain, back and neck pain, occupational injuries, cancer and cardiac disease that require medical rehabilitation, and other neurological and orthopedic conditions. Annually, NRH admits approximately 2,200 inpatients and provides nearly 350,000 ambulatory visits at 34 NRH Regional Rehab outpatient sites located in Washington, D.C., Suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia. We treat patients from the age of 6 and up and our pediatric unit — the National Center for Children’s Rehabilitation at NRH — is a joint service of NRH and Children’s National Medical Center.
NRH has appeared on the “Best Hospitals” list in U.S. News & World Report for 17 consecutive years and is currently ranked among the top hospitals for medical rehabilitation in America. NRH is fully accredited by The Joint Commission and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). NRH has CARF accredited specialty programs for Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, and Stroke. In addition, NRH’s Spinal Cord Injury Program has been designated one of only 14 Model SCI Systems of Care in the country by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), a part of the Department of Education. NRH is a proud member of MedStar Health., parent company to Franklin Square Hospital, Georgetown University Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, Harbor Hospital, Montgomery General Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, Union Memorial Hospital, Washington Hospital Center and the MedStar Visiting Nurse Association. For more on NRH, log on to nrhrehab.org.