roshni
09-14-2006, 12:25 PM
(Note: This isn't research but still a very uplifting piece on TM)
Before she left home March 9, Bethann Dolan was feeling fine.
Less than 20 minutes later, Dolan was overcome with tingling in both her arms and legs, unable even to get out of her car.
"Within minutes, I was unable to walk. Within hours, I was on a ventilator," said Dolan, 37, of Hampton. The Hampton Middle School math teacher was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord that can cause paralysis.
Dolan was paralyzed from the neck down and hospitalized at Mercy Hospital in the North Side for two months and a rehabilitation hospital for three months after that. She can now breathe on her own has recovered some limited use of her arms, but still depends on a 500-pound motorized wheelchair to get around.
Six months after she was stricken with the illness, friends from her church and school colleagues are working to raise $50,000 to buy a van that will hold Dolan's wheelchair, which is too heavy for most cars and vans.
Dolan says she is overwhelmed by the efforts of so many.
"It's almost difficult to understand how much these people care," said Dolan. "I can't express how much I appreciate this."
Link to full story: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_470019.html
Before she left home March 9, Bethann Dolan was feeling fine.
Less than 20 minutes later, Dolan was overcome with tingling in both her arms and legs, unable even to get out of her car.
"Within minutes, I was unable to walk. Within hours, I was on a ventilator," said Dolan, 37, of Hampton. The Hampton Middle School math teacher was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord that can cause paralysis.
Dolan was paralyzed from the neck down and hospitalized at Mercy Hospital in the North Side for two months and a rehabilitation hospital for three months after that. She can now breathe on her own has recovered some limited use of her arms, but still depends on a 500-pound motorized wheelchair to get around.
Six months after she was stricken with the illness, friends from her church and school colleagues are working to raise $50,000 to buy a van that will hold Dolan's wheelchair, which is too heavy for most cars and vans.
Dolan says she is overwhelmed by the efforts of so many.
"It's almost difficult to understand how much these people care," said Dolan. "I can't express how much I appreciate this."
Link to full story: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_470019.html