Rachel's Rehabilitation Journey
Donation protected
My name is Iesha Taraboulsi. In 2013 my best friend of 27 years - at the time - suffered a massive brain stem stroke. Rachel was a 41 year old healthy woman who had a successful law practice. She is a mother to three beautiful children aged (9, 7 & 6), at the time of her stroke and is lucky to have a loving and supportive husband. Life was great but in May 2013 - their lives were turned upside down.
Rachel's stroke caused her to have "locked-in syndrome", where she was completely herself in her mind, but unable to move her body. All she could do was blink and even blinking was hard. As a result of her stroke she was left with a severe brain injury which meant she needed to spend 15 months in hospital. In October 2014 she was able to come home - an amazing day for all.
Rachel is now in rehabilitation mode and while she has made great in-roads she still has a long way in her recovery. Rachel is in a wheelchair - is unable to speak and communicates through an iPad and requires care but her sheer determination and spirit have inspired all of those who know and love her including me. She can now stand holding on to a rail. She is my inspiration, my partner in crime, a person who makes me laugh and cry whom I trust and love to the ends of the earth and as her best friend it is my honour to continually support her and her family on this journey. So I ask you to please assist in helping me raise funds for a piece of equipment that will assist in Rachel's rehabilitation journey.
It is called a "Fes Bike" Functional Electrical Stimulation. Fes cycling uses co-ordinated electrical stimulation to create cycling patterns and helps exercise large muscles of the legs. The bike passes an electrical current through paralysed muscles causing them to contract. Rachel has had the opportunity to use one of these during her rehabilitation sessions. Afterwards, she always feels much stronger and it has given her even more determination to walk again. Her motivation and dedication is inspiring and with this type of rehabilitation exercise being available in her home everyday she has a chance to reach that goal! As you can imagine these types of machines do not come cheap and with a five-person household and on one income, a little financial assistance for this purpose would go a long way no matter how big or small. If you could help me help Rachel, I would be forever grateful.
We just obtained a physical qoute and our guess was way off!
Rachel's stroke caused her to have "locked-in syndrome", where she was completely herself in her mind, but unable to move her body. All she could do was blink and even blinking was hard. As a result of her stroke she was left with a severe brain injury which meant she needed to spend 15 months in hospital. In October 2014 she was able to come home - an amazing day for all.
Rachel is now in rehabilitation mode and while she has made great in-roads she still has a long way in her recovery. Rachel is in a wheelchair - is unable to speak and communicates through an iPad and requires care but her sheer determination and spirit have inspired all of those who know and love her including me. She can now stand holding on to a rail. She is my inspiration, my partner in crime, a person who makes me laugh and cry whom I trust and love to the ends of the earth and as her best friend it is my honour to continually support her and her family on this journey. So I ask you to please assist in helping me raise funds for a piece of equipment that will assist in Rachel's rehabilitation journey.
It is called a "Fes Bike" Functional Electrical Stimulation. Fes cycling uses co-ordinated electrical stimulation to create cycling patterns and helps exercise large muscles of the legs. The bike passes an electrical current through paralysed muscles causing them to contract. Rachel has had the opportunity to use one of these during her rehabilitation sessions. Afterwards, she always feels much stronger and it has given her even more determination to walk again. Her motivation and dedication is inspiring and with this type of rehabilitation exercise being available in her home everyday she has a chance to reach that goal! As you can imagine these types of machines do not come cheap and with a five-person household and on one income, a little financial assistance for this purpose would go a long way no matter how big or small. If you could help me help Rachel, I would be forever grateful.
We just obtained a physical qoute and our guess was way off!
Organizer
Iesha Taraboulsi
Organizer
Austinville QLD
