Hopes for American research.

[Mike C]

Today I was watching a german documentary on Phoenix (a channel similar to C-SPAN) which showed how some of the survivors from the Eschede train disaster were dealing with their lives. One of the victims shown suffered a spinal cord injury. He looked like a C5 complete, able to move his arms, but no triceps or hand function. He was interviewed and recanted how his life has changed since the accident...something we here all know and can recognize...and how his relationship with his wife and two daughters also has changed. What struck me was when the two girls were interviewed. They both stated how they had to deal with their Dad´s emotional frustrations, how they felt guilt when they didn´t want to help or do something for their Dad because they didn´t feel like it, (the documentary then showed how the two girls helped their Dad transfer into his chair with the help of a transfer board) and how sad it was that they couldn´t do the things they used to do with their Dad. One said she felt so sorry for her Mom because she didn´t deserve for something like this to happen to her. Then one of the girls said she hoped that one day "something will come from America that will be able to cure my Dad". This girls statement showed me just how much hope people here have in US research. As an American living with a spinal injury here in Germany, I can understand how she feels. I never think about how someone from the Max Plank Institute is going to solve the regeneration problem, even though they have excellent scientists working there. "America" is going to do it. There is a lot of hope...world wide...which is being placed on US research. Just thought I´d pass the comments of this german girl on to you all

[This message was edited by Mike C on August 10, 2001 at 01:15 PM.]

[Wise Young]

Thanks very much, Mike C. One of the reason that I helped found the International Neurotrauma Society (INTS) in 1990 was to try get American, European, Asian, Australian, and South American scientists to work together. We meet every two years and it has been a great stimulus. For example, our first INTS meeting was in Japan. Before that meeting, there was perhaps one or two laboratories working on spinal cord injury. By the second INTS meeting in Glasgow, Japan sent in 50 abstracts of spinal cord injury studies. The growth of interest in neurotrauma research is a world-wide phenomenon. Our last meeting was in Garmisch and it was really truly amazing how much spinal cord injury research in now being done in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, and Belgium. Likewise, Israel has become a major player in the spinal cord injury field past three years.

Wise.