Margaret Hakim, one of VTT Trustees was able to visit the Centre in Bangladesh earlier this year. Read all about her experiences and all the latest developments in her Diary. Also read about some of the people she met in Encounters.
Fundraising
VTT have had two generous overseas donations, one from friends of CRP in Sweden and one from Australia towards the OT department. In UK, St .Peter’s Church in Monchelsea, Kent continues to give good support..
Funds have increased through generous donations from Travel Aid and from the Multi Agency for International Training and Support (MAITS). Travel Aid was responsible for the sending of 4 Oxford undergraduates to CRP in the summer and MAITS is a longstanding supporter of CRP, as can be seen from their website.
Individuals are providing inspiration in fund raising as couple raised £600 from sales of eggs!!!
And Iain Whitty starts to prepare for his Highland Fling event through Just Giving.
Many thanks for the continued support. If you are planning an event or have hosted one recently then please let us know
If you would like to make a donation then please DONATE HERE
New Volunteer
Hiya I am Richard, A second year student at York St John University reading Physical Education, Sports Coaching and Pedagogy BA (Hons) Degree.
I have been fortunate enough to secure a fully funded international work placement to implement sport and recreational programmes at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in Bangladesh.
It would be fine for me to just turn up in May 2012, jump on a plane and do my bit for six weeks, but I don’t think this is enough. I would like the opportunity to make people aware of the situation in Bangladesh & gather some funding for such a worthwhile cause in supporting the CRP for the future.
Donating through Just Giving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with Just Giving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.”
We wish the best to Richard, if you would like to support his fundraising efforts Click here
Report from the Surgical Team, Leeds Teaching Hospital visit to CRP
Team Members
Jake Timothy – Neurosurgeon
Andrew Frost – Orthopaedic Spinal Surgeon
Theatre Nurses – Emma Binns; Rachel Stearn; Laura Cook
Sam Morley- De Puy (Makers of Medical Instruments )
The team was put together by Jake who had been to CRP ten years earlier. Sam had worked very hard to persuade his company to pay the air fares of the medical team and to provide some surgical instruments for the operations to be performed. De Puy paid the fares, the team all took annual leave and Sam paid his own fare so that he could be there to make a photographic record.
The team worked with Dr Razzak, Head of the Medical Team at CRP.
The team wanted to look at the possibility of using more surgery to treat spinal injury patients rather than traction. This would bring the benefit of shorter hospital stays and therefore the possibility of treating more patients. There is a greater use of surgery in the UK nowadays rather than traction.
As well as working at CRP, Doctor Razzak arranged for the team to perform operations at NITOR (National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation). This is a well equipped hospital in Dhaka that treats paying patients. This had positive spin offs for CRP as some of the surgeons from NITOR came to operate alongside the team at CRP and said that they would continue to help at CRP in future.
During discussions with the team they praised the quality of the theatre staff at CRP. The drawback to increasing the numbers of operations was a lack of some specialised equipment that could give a quick indication as to which patients would be suitable for immediate surgery rather than traction. At present x-rays at CRP are done using plates and it takes time for them to be developed. The team are used to using a C – Arm, an instant x-ray machine. At NITOR they use a C – Arm.
Out of interest I asked one of the theatre nurses what equipment would be helpful for CRP.
She listed these :-
• C- Arm (X-Ray)
• X –Ray gowns
• A decent suction unit (electric)
• Cervical Retractor(Anterior)
• Norfolk and Norwich Retractors
• Cervical cages
• Cervical plates and screws
We discussed costs. The C-Arm would cost about £30,000
The team worked very long hours the whole time they were at CRP. They even operated on the morning of the day they were leaving. Dr. Razzak was with them and learning from them the whole time. They, and the CRP staff, even worked on Friday. It was a privilege to spend time with them.