A Physiotherapist at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital is taking part in a tandem paraglide to raise money for The Midland Centre for Spinal Injuries (MCSI).
Ruth Burton, who works on MCSI at the Oswestry-based hospital, will be collecting funds for the Spinal Injuries Activities Fund.
The Activities Fund allows the therapies team to extend spinal injury patients’ rehabilitation by accompanying them out in the community before they are discharged. It gives patients invaluable opportunities to negotiate unexpected obstacles and solve situations with the guidance and help of staff.
Ruth said: “I am absolutely terrified of this tandem paraglide but I have been inspired to do something that scares me by our patients. They face overwhelming challenges every day, so I’m sure I can do this one!
“I've wanted to raise recreation money for MCSI for a long time as our patients deserve the best opportunities for rehabilitation and the activities fund allows us to do that.
“The fund means patients can experience eating out, shopping, using public transport, disabled toilets, going to the cinema and other everyday activities, with the support of the therapies team, which is hugely beneficial for developing confidence and independence.”
Ruth is aiming to fundraise at least £1,000, however if she is able to beat this target it would enable the centre to work towards taking a small group of patients, who have been recently discharged, to an outdoor recreation centre, such as The Calvert Trust in Keswick.
She said: “This would help patients gain confidence and experience new challenges with help from the staff.”
Mr Chowdhury, clinical lead and consultant surgeon for MCSI, said: “Getting our patients out into the community with the Therapies team before they are discharged from the Unit is such an important part of their rehabilitation.
“It’s great to see Ruth fundraising for the activities fund.”
Ruth added: “I’d also like to say a huge thank you to Mick Bird-Jones from YX Paragliding School for being overwhelmingly generous by donating the experience to me and to Steve Metcalfe for inspiring me to take on this challenge.”
You can donate to Ruth’s paraglide by heading to her Just Giving page - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ruth-burtonparaglide.
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