Hi there, you can be believe it that people with quad' level abilities (or equivalent) play 'murderball' and often C5/6 complete injury is around the highest level of ability that will play the game (correct me if i'm wrong) . It takes a fair bit of work for people at this level of injury to build up the strength and skills to compete but they do and they play an important role in the team - probably not unlike the defensive players in your grid iron? (but what would i know? I'm Australian). In New Zealand most years too they have a 'low pointers tournament' which is for those players who are usually higher level spinal injury - like C5/6. The points system is similar to other disability sports classifications too.
And 'tetraplegia' is actually the 'official' international medical language to be used instead of the word 'quadriplegia', but they they mean the same thing. Also I think you've misinterpreted how they made their comments as they weren't addressing this person first and foremost as a 'tetraplegic'...they said they were a patient at their hospital who'd had a tetraplegic spinal injury, which is a fair call. I know what you're getting at though, I hate it when people get addressed as a 'quad' or a 'para' first, as a means of describing an individual .... the sort of "have you met the quad girl Sue?" type of thing. Discriminatory really and I can see why it's an insulting as a way to approach addressing people. But I don't think this person is guilty of the same fault. So there you go, my two bobb's worth for the day! Avagooday, bye now. Kel S. >>> "B. Kimberlin (Quadius)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 13/07/2005 8:30:23 am >>> Is it me or does this person have tetraplegia confused with paraplegia? I have known very few tetraplegics, albeit I have known a few, that had the capability to do anything like this. I rarely ever hear professionals call a person who is capable of addressing themselves a tetraplegic. >One of my inpatients who had an injury resulting in an incomplete tetraplegia said he was so moved that he was "inspired" to get up at 6am and get himself dressed for the first time this morning. < (just wondering) Billy Dan Berger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:I work for THINKFilm, distributor of a new documentary about Quadraplegic Rugby called MURDERBALL. MURDERBALL was released in NY and LA on Friday and comes out nationwide on July 22. We encourage everyone to see MURDERBALL. It is a very important film. MURDERBALL possesses the ability to change people's perceptions of the disabled community. It is essentially the antithesis of films like Million Dollar Baby and The Sea Inside which argue that life is over with paralysis. MURDERBALL shows real people - real quadraplegics - living more fulfilling lives than most able-bodied individuals. MURDERBALL tells the story of a group of world-class athletes unlike any ever shown on screen. In addition to smashing chairs, it will smash every stereotype you ever had about the disabled. It is a film about family, revenge, honor, sex and the triumph of love over loss. But most of all, it is a film about standing up, even after your spirit - an! d your spine - has been crushed. The mor! e people that see MURDERBALL, the more people that will be educated about what being a quadraplegic really can be like. The following is an excerpt from an email I received following a screening of the film at the Kessler Rehab Institute in New York: The comments that night were incredibly positive and the day after the screening, I received dozens of phone calls and emails from staff and patients about how "wonderful," "fantastic," "amazing", "inspiring" and "important" the film is. But this email from one of our senior therapists is definitely one of the most meaningful to ever come across my desk -- and probably yours: One of my inpatients who had an injury resulting in an incomplete tetraplegia said he was so moved that he was "inspired" to get up at 6am and get himself dressed for the first time this morning. He felt that if the guys in the film could achieve such great things, that he should be able to as well. It seems like such a wonderful response & I am glad we had the opportunity to share it with patients and staff at Kessler. I understand that this patient has been at Kessler for a number of weeks -- and this was his first attempt to really begin rebuilding his life. It's stories like this that make all the efforts ... all the hard work, frustration, disappointments and joys ... all worthwhile. Please contact me with any questions regarding MURDERBALL or any suggestions for spreading the word or just to get some free promotional materials. Thanks so much, Dan Berger THINKFilm 155 Avenue of the Americas 7th Floor New York, NY 10013 [EMAIL PROTECTED] P 646.293.9400 F 646.293.9407 C 646.342.6560 www.murderballmovie.com www.thinkfilmcompany.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned for the NSW Department of Health by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________ Disclaimer: This message is intended for the addressee named and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify the sender. Views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, and are not necessarily the views of NSW Health or Cancer Institute of NSW.
