Fundraiser

Win a 1998 BMW 328i Convertible and help a Salisbury boy return to college after the accident that changed his life.

James Cook was away at college and beginning his sophomore year at Virginia Tech last October when he was seriously hurt as a passenger in a vehicle accident while participating in a Corp of Cadets required event. Cook, a Naval ROTC Cadet, aerospace engineering major, and 2009 graduate of Wicomico High School, suffered a spinal cord injury as a result of the accident and was left paralyzed from the waist down. James has spent the last ten months recovering from the accident and in two of the best SCI rehabilitation centers in the country, the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA and Kennedy Krieger at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD. The efforts James has made as a patient in these rehab centers has brought him a long way and he is completely independent, but his ultimate goal is, and will always be, to walk again.

In June, Community Pharmacy in Salisbury held a fundraiser for James at the beautiful Fountains in Salisbury and businesses and friends all over the community graciously gave their time, money, gift donations, and support in an effort to help James achieve this goal. The community’s kindness and generosity raised James over $20,000 making it possible for him to take part in a special SCI therapy program in Carlsbad, CA called Project Walk for an entire month. Project Walk offers hope to paralyzed individuals for many reasons. Spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation traditionally focuses on compensation and living independently. The thought is that the human nervous system does not re-organize and improve function below the level of injury and therefore one’s best hope is to live within the parameters of the remaining functioning body. Research over the last decade, however proves this to be false for many people with SCI and Project Walk focuses on using intense and specific exercises directed at the paralyzed limbs related to the same movement patterns that occur in normal conditions. Through these movements, the goal is to re-establish patterned neural activity within the central nervous system and to regenerate nerves in the spinal cord. While in California, James worked several hours daily on load bearing exercises, gait training, kneeling, crawling, FES bike training, and more. He returned home with an exercise plan for the future, one he will continue and build upon in hopes that one day he will see improvements that will make it possible for him to one day walk again.

James heads back to Virginia Tech this August with his beautiful girlfriend Lindsay by his side. A source of strength to him beyond any therapy, she has been with him every step of his recovery and together they will once again begin their sophomore years, this time he as a civilian student. James will also return to driving as he returns to Virginia Tech this fall, but not in his treasured silver 1998 BMW 328i convertible that he’s driven since his junior year of high school, but in a vehicle specially equipped with hand controls and more suitable to his current needs.

To help James purchase a vehicle for back to school, the Elk's Lodge in Salisbury is helping raffle James' BMW. If you would like to win a mint silver 1998 BMW 328i convertible, automatic, with removable hard top OR if you would simply like to help James purchase a car more suitable to his needs by purchasing a ticket to win this car, buy your raffle ticket before August 5, 2011 for $20 per ticket at either Community Pharmacy on S. Salisbury Blvd. or at the Elks Lodge # 817 at 401 Churchill Avenue in Salisbury. To call about purchasing tickets, phone 410-430-8888. Only 1000 tickets will be sold. The drawing for the car will be held at a send off celebration for James on Friday, August 5th from 6 to 8 pm at the Elk’s Lodge. The winner does not need to be present to win, but Elk’s Lodge president David N. Neal invites everyone to attend this celebration which will include food, drink, and music.

James Cook, family and friends thank the community for their kind support and generosity. The support the family has received from businesses and individuals has been overwhelming. Special thanks go to these individuals for their efforts in helping with the June 3^rd fundraiser: Martha and Jeff Farace, Willie and Susan Benton, Kennedy Keenan, Debbie and Bart Wilkinson, Jean Webster, Dwayne Gochnour, Debbie Bouchard, Joey Gardner, Stacie Desautels, and Ottis, Gus and Malisa Triantis of the Fountains Wedding and Conference Center and the many generous folks in attendance. For more information about James or the BMW raffle, visit www.19willwalk.org

#19 Will Walk Again
For information, go to www.19willwalk.org

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=120672764680610