Magee Rehabilitation Hospital Hosts Walk It Out 24 Hour Step-A-Thon

Magee Rehabilitation Hospital will host the first annual Walk It Out 24 Hour  Step-a-Thon on Saturday, April 6 at through Sunday, April 7. For 24 hours,  current and former patients will walk on a treadmill in Magee's Riverfront  Outpatient Center Locomotor Training Clinic to raise money for the Locomotor  Training Program and The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

"Locomotor Training has made such an immense  difference in the lives of so many people, and with Walk It Out, we have  an  opportunity to show how," said Mary Schmidt Read, PT, DPT, director of Magee's  Locomotor Training Clinic and Spinal Cord Injury Program. "We are so grateful to  the community for their continued support, and for helping us ensure this  program is available for patients in the future."

Magee's Locomotor Training Clinic is part of the  NeuroRecovery Network sponsored by The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and  the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Locomotor Training (LT) is a  rehabilitative approach for people living with paralysis. The system is based on  how the brain and the spinal cord work together to control stepping, and how the  nervous system learns or relearns a motor skill. This approach affects a  patient's functional abilities, including recovery of walking, strength and  balance.

"Before Locomotor Training, I was completely  dependent on others to help me in and out of my wheelchair," said Kirk Crandall,  a 22-year-old Magee outpatient and C5/C6 quadriplegic. "Now, I can transfer by  myself, can sit up, can drink out of a cup. LT has improved my strength and  balance, and I am now able to do more things on my own. It has really changed  how I live my everyday life."

Beginning at 10 a.m. on April 6, current and former  patients and their families will walk on a treadmill in the Locomotor Training  Clinic continuously for 24 hours. Participants will be assigned to a 30 to 60  minute block of time. Participants can bring a friend or family member, or will  be provided with a "buddy" that will walk on a standard treadmill during rest  periods to ensure that a treadmill will be running throughout the 24 hours. The  event will also include food, music and raffles, with all funds raised  benefitting patients of the Locomotor Training Program and The Christopher and  Dana Reeve Foundation.

For more information about this event or Magee's  Locomotor Training Program, please visit MageeRehab.org or call (215) 587-3900.  To learn more about donating food or items for the event, please contact Alice  Kennedy at (215) 218-3913.