Jean takes a step closer to recovery
A new piece of equipment at Headway-Natal is set to help speed up the recovery times of its patients.
ONE single step and the freedom of movement is something that is taken for granted by many.
For the patients at Headway-Natal just putting one foot in front of the other requires intense concentration and effort.
The Grillo walker, an advanced piece of equipment recently donated by the Victor Daitz Foundation, will give patients a sense of independence as it provides enough support to hold them up as they learn to walk again.
The liaison manager for the Foundation, Megan Caminsky, said they had provided support for the NPO for more than 20 years and were excited at the opportunity this piece of equipment could provide for the spinal and neuro patients at Headway-Natal.
Before she had a stroke, Jean Umpley was an avid runner. She can now walk in small bouts but has no trunk control and her body leans forward and favours one side.
Jean was the first patient to use the machine.
The Grillo is fully adjustable and provides both pelvic and trunk support. She was strapped in and her face lit up as she took her first few steps with only slight support from her physio Myra Bagley.
While she still needed to concentrate on her movements and her progress was slow, she walked more than five metres on the machine without stopping.
Without this piece of equipment the physios had to physically hold up the patients and were limited by the weight they could physically manage to carry.
“It is so adjustable so we can can easily help patients who need a lot of support and slowly wean them off until they can hold themselves up. I can now manage them independently and I am sure we will see a faster progression from walking to walking independently,” said Myra.
The organisation’s manager, Rod Soutter, thanked the foundation for their continued support.
“The patients who will be using the machine don’t normally walk so this is a big thing for them. It is because of the high cost of the machine, there are very few places that offer this facility. Thank you so much for the much-needed Grillo,” he said.
