25 Things that Surprise the Public about What People with Spinal Cord Injury Can Do
This list of 25 things that may surprise the general public about what people with spinal cord injury can do was compiled by Shepherd Center peer support supervisor Minna Hong. She received input from other peer support staff members, as well as former patients who are now peer supporters.
- Dancing
- Solo skydiving
- Fly a plane
- Dry dog mushing
- Race car driving
- Swimming
- Surfing
- Scuba diving
- Fishing
- Hunting
- Camping
- Sip-and-Puff Quad Bowling
- Horseback riding
- Body building
- Triathlon competition
- Eagle Scout activities
- International travel
- Gardening
- Snow and water skiing
- Work 40 hours and have a great social life
- Pay taxes
- Women with spinal cord injury can have babies and deliver them naturally.
- Be a great single parent
- Some of us want to be buried standing.
- Laugh a lot
For more information on Shepherd Center's peer support groups, click here. Download a fact sheet about the peer support program for people with spinal cord injury here.
Shepherd Center, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is a private, not-for-profit hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, spine and chronic pain, and other neurological conditions. Founded in 1975, Shepherd Center is ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the nation. In its more than four decades, Shepherd Center has grown from a six-bed rehabilitation unit to a world-renowned, 152-bed hospital that treats more than 740 inpatients, nearly 280 day program patients and more than 7,100 outpatients each year in more than 46,000 visits.