In one split second Troy has gone from a budding NHL superstar to a quadriplegic. Each year in Canada, hundreds of athletes fall victim to debilitating spinal cord injuries. While medical advances and new technologies promise hope for spinal cord patients, the best defence against a life confined to a wheelchair is common sense and fair play. According to Charles Tatter, a neurosurgeon who teaches at the University of Toronto, approximately 20 per cent of all spinal cord injuries suffered in Canada are sports-related, and 85 per cent of those victims are males between the age of 18 and 24. The results of an injury to the spinal cord are often devastating, leaving people paraplegic or quadriplegic.
Paraplegia is a paralysis of the lower extremities and part or all of the trunk muscles.
There is often a loss of sensation in paralysed limbs as well as muscle spasms, pain, and loss of bowel and bladder control. Quadriplegia occurs when there is damage to the spinal cord in the upper back or neck region. Such injuries often cause impairment to the hands and arms in addition to the effects associated with paraplegia. When a person suffers a spinal cord injury, he or she may sustain a complete or incomplete injury. There have been medical advances that can minimize the amount of permanent damage caused by a spinal injury.