Wheelchairs should be for temporary occupancy only....Let's make that dream come true, and in our lifetime.
MINNESOTA FIGHTS PARALYSIS—LET’S HELP MINNESOTA!
By Don C. Reed
Know somebody in a wheelchair?
Want to help them get out of it?
My paralyzed son Roman Reed has the opinion that wheelchairs are for temporary occupancy only, not a permanent destination.
If those are your views too, you might want to lend a hand to Matt Rodreick of Minnesota, the energy dynamo behind a program to battle both paralysis and brain trauma.
The bill is the Jablonski/Rodreick Spinal Cord and Traumatic Brain Injury Grant Program, led by forward-looking state Senator Jeff Hayden, DFL-Minneapolis.
$4 million a year for two years, and hopefully renewal after that—folks, this is serious money. The most the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act ever got was half that, and we moved some serious mountains in the way of cure.
Every American will benefit from this bill. Not only will it move cure closer, but it will also provide state jobs—and it brings us closer to the day when catastrophic spinal cord injury COSTS go down.
Just one spinal injury may cost $5 million over the life of the patient—and since most people aren’t rich, the government ends up paying—and we wonder why health care costs skyrocket.
What can you do? Write a one-sentence action letter, and email it to the folks below.
If you want to make it longer, that is fine too, but what really matters is one sentence:
Dear Senator: I support the Jablonski/Rodreick Spinal Cord and Traumatic Brain Injury Grant Program.
That’s it. Just cut and paste that into emails to the folks below. (Oh, be sure and put your address and phone number on the top of the page, so they know a genuine being, not a machine.)
If you want to add more, great. Mention the pressure sores that can rot the flesh to the bone, or the dysreflexia that can give you a stroke, or the burns which a paralyzed person can suffer without knowing it—until they smell their own burning meat—because they can’t feel anything below the level of their injury.
But above all, write that one sentence. Do it as a favor for a kid who likes to body surf, like Gabe Rodereick did, the day his neck was broken. Or someone who plays hockey, which is how Jack Jablonski had his accident.
Or maybe someone like my nephew, Ed Navarro, who suffered a brain injury in a car accident, and died because there was no cure.
Or just stand up for all the people you love. God forbid it should happen to someone in your family, but it might.
So help Minnesota fight this terrible—and at present, incurable—condition.
Here are the emails of the folks to write.
If you did them all, (I just did) cutting and pasting your letter, it would take maybe an hour.
Football punter Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings gave up TWELVE hours, volunteering to sit in a wheelchair all one very long day—to help Matt Rodreick make a documentary (told you he was a dynamo!) to raise awareness of wheel chair living.
If a busy professional like Chris Kluwe can donate twelve hours, would you donate sixty minutes of your life? I know, that is an imposition, but so is every good done on this earth.
Contact the folks below.
Let’s make wheelchairs for temporary occupancy only—and let’s make it happen in our lifetime.
Here are the names and emails of the House of Representatives Health and Human Services Policy Committee. Below them are the members of the Senate Health and Human Services Finance Committee, with suggestions for messages to them.
Committee Chair
Tina Liebling (DFL) 651-296-0573
rep.tina.liebling@house.mn
Vice Chair
Rena Moran (DFL) 651-296-5158
rep.rena.moran@house.mn
Republican Lead
Tara Mack (R) 651-296-5506
rep.tara.mack@house.mn
Jim Abeler (R) 651-296-1729
rep.jim.abeler@house.mn
Tony Albright (R) 651-296-5185
rep.tony.albright@house.mn
Susan Allen (DFL) 651-296-7152
rep.susan.allen@house.mn
John Benson (DFL) 651-296-9934
rep.john.benson@house.mn
Mary Franson (R) 651-296-3201
rep.mary.franson@house.mn
Patti Fritz (DFL) 651-296-8237
rep.patti.fritz@house.mn
Glenn Gruenhagen (R) 651-296-4229
rep.glenn.gruenhagen@house.mn
Thomas Huntley (DFL) 651-296-2228
rep.thomas.huntley@house.mn
Clark Johnson (DFL) 651-296-8634
rep.clark.johnson@house.mn
Diane Loeffler (DFL) 651-296-4219
rep.diane.loeffler@house.mn
Kathy Lohmer (R) 651-296-4244
rep.kathy.lohmer@house.mn
Will Morgan (DFL) 651-296-5387
rep.will.morgan@house.mn
Joe Mullery (DFL) 651-296-4262
rep.joe.mullery@house.mn
Dan Schoen (DFL) 651-296-4342
rep.dan.schoen@house.mn
Joe Schomacker (R) 651-296-5505
rep.joe.schomacker@house.mn
JoAnn Ward (DFL) 651-296-7807
rep.joann.ward@house.mn
Nick Zerwas (R) 651-296-4237
rep.nick.zerwas@house.mn
——-
Senate Health and Human Services Finance Division. This is going to be the high hurdle committee, because its where the money will be debated. You can write the same statements as above, but again if you want to write more:
• Talk about the Return on Investment. SCI costs millions for the lifetime care of an individual, and any functional improvement from the research would significantly reduce those costs.
• Other states have seen a direct correlation between state funds and moves to clinical trial: California, New Jersey, New York, Florida.
• State funds significantly increase the likelihood of research being approved for federal NIH grants
Chair
Tony Lourey (11, DFL) 651-296-0293
sen.tony.lourey@senate.mn
Vice Chair
Melisa Franzen (49, DFL) 651-296-6238
sen.melisa.franzen@senate.mn
Ranking Minority Member
Julie A. Rosen (23, R) 651-296-5713
sen.julie.rosen@senate.mn
Michelle R. Benson (31, R) 651-296-3219
sen.michelle.benson@senate.mn
David M. Brown (15, R) 651-296-8075
sen.david.brown@senate.mn
Jim Carlson (51, DFL) 651-297-8073
sen.jim.carlson@senate.mn
Greg D. Clausen (57, DFL) 651-296-4120
sen.greg.clausen@senate.mn
Kent Eken (04, DFL) 651-296-3205
sen.kent.eken@senate.mn
Jeff Hayden (62, DFL) 651-296-4261
sen.jeff.hayden@senate.mn
Mary Kiffmeyer (30, R) 651-296-5655
sen.mary.kiffmeyer@senate.mn
Kathy Sheran (19, DFL) 651-296-6153
sen.kathy.sheran@senate.mn
AND FOR INFORMATION ON THE BILL, CONTACT:
Matthew Rodreick
matthewrodreick@unite2fightparalysis.org
612 834 5472
www.gusu4cure.org
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