UroMed Launches E-book on Hometown Heroes Overcoming Disabilities

Courage: The Stories of UroMed’s Hometown Heroes

UroMed, a leading urological medical supply company, has released Courage: Stories of Hometown Heroes, the first in a series of e-books featuring a collection of stories from their Hometown Heroes blog. Written by John E. Phillips, the e-book features 16 individuals who have overcome disabilities like Spinal Cord Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Spina Bifida and Transverse Myelitis to lead successful lives and serve as inspiration to others.  Some of the individuals featured in the first book are:

• Christine Kent – a handcyclist and former model who was paralyzed by a stalker who tried to kill her,
• Scot Hollonbeck – a wheelchair Olympian who was paralyzed at the age of 14,
• Misty Blue Foster – a young nurse who hasn’t let Spina Bifida get in the way of following her dream,
• Clay Dyer – a professional bass fisherman who has no hands and feet and only one partial arm,
• Jeanne Wilson – a competitive weightlifter who was born with Spina Bifida, and
• Michael Dickey – a C-6 quadriplegic who has travelled the world as part of the U.S. Paralympics Marksmanship team.

Download the Hometown Heroes e-book for Kindle and iPad at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Courage-Stories-Hometown-Heroes-ebook/dp/B007WU2RX4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335785891&sr=8-1

Hometown Hero Scot Hollonbeck coaching athletes at an Emory University Training camp.

UroMed is publishing the e-book series for Kindle and iPad users because of the accessibility advancements that these technology devices offer. “Kindles and iPads have become some of the most popular assistive technology products available to people with disabilities. As a growing number of our customers are relying on Kindle and iPad for everyday tasks, online access and entertainment, we wanted to offer more resources and content that is designed specifically for the people we serve,” says UroMed Director of Marketing Lisa Wells.

The Hometown Heroes e-book is also viewable on mobile phones that have the Kindle app installed.

About Hometown Heroes

“The idea for Hometown Heroes was inspired by the thousands of people who participate in our online peer support community on Facebook through our non-profit program, Life After Spinal Cord Injury.  As they continually share their own stories and pictures of success in everyday life, we wanted to help spread the good news even further to eliminate stereotypes associated with disabilities and to inspire even more people who may not have yet discovered Life After Spinal Cord Injury,” says UroMed President Craig Stevens.

The Hometown Heroes series serves as an extension of “Get Out & Enjoy Life”, a program that UroMed sponsored last summer in conjunction with SPORTS ‘N SPOKES, the sports and recreation magazine of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA).  That program encouraged people with disabilities to “Get Out & Enjoy Life” in all 50 states by featuring a state-by-state listing of accessible vacation spots, outdoors programs, and other events.  

Helpful Links

Hometown Heroes: http://uromed.wordpress.com/
Life After Spinal Cord Injury on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/LASCIpage   
Life After Spinal Cord Injury – ongoing events:  http://www.uromed.com/Company/LifeAfterSpinalCordInjury

Project Walk Atlanta Celebrates Grand Opening Within The Atlanta Metro Area

UroMed & LASCI had a fantastic time supporting Project Walk® Atlanta on Sunday, April 15, during their grand opening event! 

Project Walk, the world’s largest non-profit spinal cord injury recovery center, signed a deal to open up Project Walk-Atlanta with Paul Pickard and his family in the greater Atlanta, Georgia area.  As the father of Project Walk client, quadriplegic Chris Pickard, Paul has a strong passion for SCI recovery, which combined with his vast business experience makes opening a center in Atlanta a perfect fit. 

Motivation is a key part of the Project Walk Atlanta environment.

UroMed founder and quadriplegic Bert Burns weaved his way through the crowd, sharing his thoughts on life after spinal cord injury with attendees as he met a wide range of young people with SCI from all over the country.  But, more than anything else, we learned from those we spoke with about the ongoing need for positive, group-focused resources to help people with spinal cord injuries in resuming successful lives after rehabilitation.

Bert Burns talks with new friends at the Project Walk Atlanta grand opening.

According to Tim Yates, Project Walk CEO, “by expanding into the Atlanta, Georgia market near The Shepherd Center it is going to give more people suffering from SCI access to our program(s). Working with Paul and his family to open a center in Atlanta is very exciting and again puts us one step closer to making Project Walk available to everyone (suffering from SCI) without having to travel all the way to San Diego.  People will be able to save a lot of money on travel and accommodations by having centers closer to their hometowns.”

The Pickard family cuts the grand opening ribbon, kicking off the first day of their new facility at Project Walk Atlanta.

At Project Walk Atlanta, we met several young people who were doing just that, travelling to Atlanta for rehab services from places as far away as Boston and Buffalo, NY – in search of the best rehab programs they could find.  The need is evident for more rehabilitation programs like Project Walk in more communities nationwide.

Bert Burns teaching car transfer skills to a young lady who is newly injured.

In light of this, Project Walk is currently working to expand its operations on a global basis including Australia, North and South America, the Middle East and Europe to service the needs of the SCI community. The organization recently moved to its new worldwide headquarters in Carlsbad, California consisting of 24,000 square feet of space in October 2011.

The real milestones in Project Walk's success aren't in opening new buildings, it's when they celebrate participants' success!

To learn more about Project Walk, please visit: http://www.projectwalk.org/2217/project-walk%C2%AE-signs-deal-to-open-project-walk-atlanta-spinal-cord-injury-treatment/