Something To Do In September

It’s September. It’s also SCI Awareness Month. And since you’re reading this (thank you) you obviously know someone living with a spinal cord injury.

Until I was injured, I had only heard of three individuals living with spinal cord injuries – Christopher Reeve, Dennis Byrd, and Ron Kovic. Today, some of my closest friends live with an SCI. And not a week goes by that I am not made aware of or introduced to someone new with a spinal cord injury.

It’s estimated that the annual incidence of spinal cord injuries in the United States is 54 cases per 1 million people, or about 17,730 new cases each year. There are approximately 300,000 people living in the United States with an SCI, almost 1 in every 1,000 people.

The goal of SCI Awareness Month is to educate the general public on the prevalence of spinal cord injuries, ways to prevent them, how to best treat them, and how to best support individuals living with them. There are several ways you can help the cause and spread awareness:

1. Talk about it. Share helpful facts and information on your social media accounts throughout the month.
2. Urge politicians to do more, such as making air travel more accessible – require airlines to have a row of removable seats that accommodate wheelchairs, which will make it safer and easier to travel.
3. Donate to a cause, such as The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation or Getting Back Up, which will help research funding for a cure and assisting others in need.
4. Consider joining the National Spinal Cord Injury Association’s United Spinal Team Advocacy group to help work for change. 
5. Gift/share a copy of my book to someone who might not be aware of my story. Help put a face to a statistic.

Thank you for your continued prayers, support, and willingness to help!

Stand Strong!

Scott