Spinal Cord Injury Campaign Goal

Unlocking Potential: The Campaign for Kennedy Krieger Institute will redefine the possibilities for children with paralysis and spinal cord injuries. Already our work has proven that advanced restorative therapies can help reduce the risk of infection and cardiovascular decline associated with paralysis, while showing great promise in helping young patients recover sensation, movement and independence.

The International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at Kennedy Krieger is one of only a handful in the world to focus on children. What adults see as roadblocks are merely speed bumps for children. Dr. John McDonald, Director of Kennedy Krieger’s International Center for Spinal Cord Injury, believes that has a lot to do with a child's refusal to understand the meaning of the word "impossible." According to Dr. McDonald, "Adults might try something twice before they quit. Kids try something a thousand times and never give up." That "can do" attitude, coupled with the innovative pediatric therapies that are currently being developed and utilized at Kennedy Krieger, is showing great promise in helping young patients recover sensation, movement and independence.

By using specially designed, computer-smart therapy equipment, our physicians and therapists are helping patients stimulate normal, everyday movements - a practice which many believe can help regenerate cells and encourage damaged limbs to "remember" how to move again. By maximizing the body's ability to self-repair, these restorative therapies are often able to improve a patients' overall health and, in some cases, even reinstate a normal pattern of nerve activity below the injury.

The pediatric therapies that are being developed and offered at Kennedy Krieger today are paving the way for the therapies of tomorrow. It's not unreasonable to think that, one day, smart chips will be injected directly into a muscle to stimulate movement or that, eventually, it will be possible to replace injured cells with healthy ones. The research is already underway and the only barriers to progress are space and funding.

• Our researchers are working toward the day when we can provide some recovery of function to those living with paralysis
  
  
• By helping patients perform normal physical activities, we hope to one day dencourage the growth of new nervous system cells
  
  
• On the horizon are restorative therapies that will enable us to monitor a patient's progress n a real-time basis from 3,000 miles away

Your support toward our goal of raising $10 million to support the initiatives of our spinal cord injury program will provide much needed funding to further advancements and positive outcomes for families and individuals with spinal cord injury.