An open letter by founder Rich Hamill.
We seek to prepare people with spinal cord injuries for the cure by increasing awareness and enhancing life quality now!
The cure is coming and we’re going to be ready for it!
We’ve never been closer in the history of America to a cure for spinal cord injuries than we are right now. The first spinal cord injection therapy was started in October of this year. The cure’s effectiveness and success rates for recently injured people are currently being evaluated.
The time is now!
Will2Walk Foundation is thrilled about the progress toward a cure and ready to change direction to ensure the successful implementation of a cure for spinal cord injuries for the people who need it. There’s no better time than now to be proactive and to start investing time, effort, and funds into raising awareness about spinal cord injuries and enhancing the quality of life for those with spinal cord injuries.
Let’s put a face to a cause.
Will2Walk has successfully generated interest in and support for spinal cord injury awareness since its inception in 2008. Together we can do a great deal more than just supporting the funding for spinal cord research: Will2Walk can increase the profile of those who have spinal cord injuries, giving them a voice. Plus, we can use that heightened recognition to ensure people who have spinal cord injuries lead quality lives and are prepared for the cure that is coming.
Why make it personal? We can make a difference in peoples’ lives and have a real impact in communities
By taking a personal approach to combating spinal cord injury Will2Walk can:
- Raise more funds,
- Help more people with spinal cord injuries achieve their goals,
- See more immediate results, and
- Have a primary role in curing spinal cord injuries.
Local corporations are more likely to support their community members, not institutionalized research.
If we can raise awareness about and improve the lives of people with spinal cord injuries locally, we can engender more support, gain more funding and secure more grants to help build Will2Walk as a foundation and succeed in overcoming spinal cord injuries, one person at a time.
What good is a cure if we don’t have people who are ready for it?
Spinal cord injury research had significant advancements in recent years. Let’s focus on readying those who need the cure.
Our goal is to empower people to take charge of their lives
For the 1.3 million Americans who have spinal cord injuries, each day is a challenge. It is imperative that we band together to foster understanding about spinal cord injuries, to educate and empower people who have injuries as well as their supporters, and to raise funds to support Will2Walk’s awareness-raising and quality-of-life-enhancing efforts. Will2Walk aims to:
Foster Understanding about Spinal Cord Injuries
Before the car accident that rendered me quadriplegic in 1992, I used to look at people in chairs and feel sorry for them. I thought I was invincible. I was a teenager who loved sports, motorcycles and fast cars. Me? I wasn’t going to be wheelchair-bound, ever.
What I didn’t realize then was that being paralyzed is the easy part; the hard part is everyday things: Going to the bathroom, getting dressed, going places, having the flu, working out, staying healthy. Being in a chair is not fun, but you can deal with it. It’s all the things that come with it that are challenging.
The more people who know about spinal cord injuries, the greater the network of support that will be available for those who have them.
Educate People with Spinal Cord Injuries and their Friends and Families
They prepared me for everything during my rehabilitation 19 years ago, set goals for my recovery, and didn’t let me leave until I had met those benchmarks. They don’t do that any more. People are all entitled to an education about their injury and a chance to lead a normal life with their injury. It should be universal, not a luxury just because I happened to have great insurance at the time.
Will2Walk aims to provide an introduction back into reality for the injured. We want to discuss real life stuff like taking care of body, going to school, dating, and getting a job: What you can do, how you can do it, and why you still can do it. These are vital aspects of life that are never addressed.
Will2Walk will also educate the families and friends of the injured, because they need to know what they can do to help the person who’s injured get back into living life and being a productive part of society. My friends and family never let me stop being me.
Empower People with Spinal Cord Injuries to Live their Lives and Prepare for a Cure
After the accident, my sense of being invincible was taken away. I was told I my health would deteriorate: I would gain weight, lose muscle strength and bone density, and suffer from various ailments because I was in a chair. The doctors said I might regain some mobility, but it would be limited at best. This was unacceptable to me. I may have been in a chair, but I still had my drive and my willpower. In the 19 years since my accident, I’ve maintained my strength, kept the weight off, graduated from college, gotten married, and had a successful career.
For the people that want to make the effort, it’s important they have the opportunity to live their lives fully. They need to have the chance. If you want to do something and you can’t do it because of monetary constraints, that’s where we want to help. Will2Walk will provide emotional and monetary support to people who demonstrate the desire to get in shape, stay active, and prepare their bodies for a cure.
Raise Funds to Support Education and Empowerment
We’re right around the corner from a cure, and local sponsors will be more willing to support us if they know exactly where the funds are going and can see the difference that their support has made in the lives of people in their communities.
By shifting our organizational focus, we are in a better place to secure donations and win grants to support the implementation of a cure, because, after all, what good is a cure if nobody’s ready for it?
My dream is to walk again, and I’ll live to see it happen, for me and many others
Christopher Reeve’s had a dream to cure spinal cord injuries, but when he died, his dream kind of died with him. It’s time to revitalize that dream.
Knowing a cure is right around the corner is exhilarating.
To think that I’m going to see it in my lifetime is motivating. My 19 years of pushing myself may pay off. I am thrilled that Will2Walk can help others get ready for the cure too, whether they’re newly injured or have been in a chair for a couple decades like I have. It’s exciting!
Curing spinal cord injuries is not just a thought anymore: It’s tangible.
If we’re this close, we need to get out there and get people motivated. Start now! Don’t wait until the cure is found. Being proactive is going to be so beneficial for the 1.3 million Americans who have spinal cord injuries. Let’s get ready for the cure! If there’s a miraculous cure discovered tomorrow, Will2Walk’s beneficiaries be the first ones on the list.
Helping achieve the dream is possible.
Will2Walk aims to bring spinal cord injuries back into the public consciousness by raising awareness and providing up-to-date education for both injured parties and their friends and families. Furthermore, Will2Walk will work with people who have spinal cord injuries, enhancing their quality of life and preparing them for the cure that is right around the corner.
Will2Walk’s new direction prepares us to be a leader in gaining recognition and funds for the cause of curing spinal cord injuries, taking a personalized approach. With your continued support, we will all live to see the day when the once paralyzed will walk again.
