Challenge Aspen Welcomes Atlanta’s Shepherd Center

February 5, 2008

Challenge Aspen instructors, staff and volunteers are thoroughly enjoying the fabulous new snow this week, with 10 new adaptive skiers, recovering from Spinal Cord Injuries and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) at Atlanta’s world renown Shepherd Center. Many of the Shepherd Center visitors are newly injured and experiencing skiing and instruction with adaptive equipment with Challenge Aspen, for the very first time.

The Shepherd Center group arrived on Saturday for four days of fun on Snowmass Mountain. During the week, they’re receiving expert one-on-one instruction from talented Challenge Aspen staff and wonderful accommodations at The Silvertree Hotel and Wildwood Lodge. There was a seating clinic at the beginning of the week, to familiarized the new skiers with their ski equipment. Challenge Aspen staff and volunteers also organized a welcome dinner at Tasters and there will be a final night banquet at the Silvertree Hotel, tonight.

Shepherd Center is a private, not-for-profit hospital founded by James Shepherd and his family in 1975, after a water accident instantly paralyzed him from the neck down, at 22. Today, Shepherd Center is a state-of-the-art facility for research and healing, which has grown from six beds to 120 beds, including an eight-bed intensive care unit. Each year more than 850 patients are admitted and nearly 30,000 outpatient clinic visits are conducted. Shepherd Center conducts up to 50 research projects annually and is a Spinal Cord Injury Model Center, as designated by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Shepherd consistently ranks among the nation’s top rehabilitation hospitals in U.S. News & World Report. Whether studying a new device, testing an improved surgical procedure or developing a groundbreaking treatment method, research at Shepherd Center translates directly into an improved quality of life for our patients.

Written by debbie · Filed Under Key News

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