John Cann 3rd person with a spinal cord injury to try Inclined Bed Therapy

Spinal Cord Injury

On Saturday April 15th 2000, John obtained the timber for parallel bars to be erected at his home in Cornwall, On Sunday I went to John's home and completed the job, for tomorrow was to be a momentous occasion indeed.

John was left paralysed, in 1990, when surgery to his spine went wrong. He was told that after two years any chance of further recovery would be highly unlikely and for the next six years he experienced little if any change in his condition.

Monday morning I am on my way to John's home in Cornwall, to meet with Tim Iredale, who is a news reporter for Carlton Television Southwest. We intended to witness something truly magical. But could not have imagined what was in store for us.

John was about walk in front of a television camera and crew for the first time in close to ten years. John had told me that he had regained the ability to move his legs, but I had grossly underestimated how much function John had regained.

During the interview, John was asked to show how he manages to get out of bed now and he transferred with ease both in and out of bed, leaning back and lifting his legs. He was then asked to raise his legs while lying on the bed and he obliged with ease. When asked if he could feel when touched on his legs, he replied my legs feel like normal legs instead of heavy weights. John then went on to explain how much of the swelling in his legs had gone-and that this flies in the face of the current act of elevating the legs above the heart. Advise from the medical profession, which John duly ignored in favour of sleeping with his legs down.

Fortunately for John this meant that he could now wear ankle braces and special shoes, which would, provided support for his substantially weakened and as yet unresponsive ankles.

John approached the parallel bars in his wheel chair and applied the brakes when he was in position. He grasped the two ends of the parallel bars and using his legs he pushed himself into a vertical position. Towering some six feet four inches, John moved one leg in front of the other, bending the knees as he lifted each leg to walk 12 feet to the end of the bars. I turned and looked at Tim and saw disbelief and astonishment flash across his face, I bet my face was a sight to behold too. John then turned his powerful 19 stone body around and walked, yes walked back to his chair. Struggling and somewhat weakened by the experience, he lowered his body into the chair and his face had the expression of a boxer who had just knocked down his opponent. He said casually: 'Was that alright'? John had indeed delivered a powerful blow to his opponent.
Fortunately heavy rain prevented us from doing a retake and the rest of the interview took place in John's bedroom.

When the story was finished and everyone was ready to leave, I turned and thanked the camera man and Tim Iredale, who turned and said that this is one of those days that you will always remember, one of those days when you know exactly what you were doing.

The cameraman said while shaking my hand that: ' it has been a privilege to work with me and witness the results from such a simple application'.

I drove home the richest man alive that day and will remember it for the rest of my days.

On Monday the 17th April 2000 I waited for the local news on Carlton TV and saw the opening news which pictured me looking down my Naturesway Sleep System, a simple bed designed for to take us into the new millennium. After the interlude the fun really started. John was walking for everyone in the South West of England to see, at least. The news stayed focused on the remarkable effects of two eight-inch blocks tucked under the head end of John's bed. No $billion research, no waiting for the next ten years to see if it works and no room for any refutation of the results, which were plain for everyone to see on Carlton Television, News, Language Science Park, Plympton, Plymouth, Devon, UK. But John is not the only person with a spinal cord injury, who is benefiting from the effects of gravity, in fact there are two more people in the Torbay Area of Devon who are making steady progress.

Sent: Sunday, August 08, 1999 8:01 PM
Subject: gravity -- INCLINED TO SLEEP.wps (0/1)

EFFECT OF RAISED BED ON SPINAL CORD INJURY


In 1990 I had two slipped discs, and had a lamenectomy which ended up with
me being unable to walk.
I was lucky enough to get a bed at ROOKWOOD Hospital, a place that I cannot
thank or speak highly enough of, they gave me back the will to live.

After two years all the slow progress stopped as I had been informed to expect. I
had no feeling from the hips down, and no movement of the legs at all. Luckily my
arms were o.k so transfers to the wheelchair were more of a throw which usually
ended with my coccyx hitting the wheel, but as there was no feeling, so it didn't
bother me too much. After a few months came the most horrendous phantom pains
like a knife attached to the mains that struck anywhere in the legs or feet, for
this I was on strong painkillers or if it was too bad injections.

About two years ago a cutting from a paper was sent to me, it was about Andrew
Fletcher's raised bed. I rang Andrew and he explained his theory and told me how
to raise the bed. The bed was raised eight inches that day, when I saw the bed
it looked impossible not to end up on the floor at the foot. However that night
was wonderful, the phantom pains stopped and I had a full nights sleep. Slowly
things started to improve, improvements such as instead of having to grab my sock
or trouser leg to lift my legs onto the bed I could lean back and swing them up, muscles in
my thighs started to twitch, turning over in bed became possible without having to
grab the side of the bed and pull myself over, not having to pull my legs over
by hand.
I have experienced so many improvements that creep up and are not noticed until days
later.

Pains started again and I thought here we go again, but it soon became obvious
to me that it was nerve regeneration pains that I was experiencing. Although they felt like
previous pains, these stayed in the same place anything from six to twenty four hours.
The next time the pains moved further down the leg, now I am glad to say those
pains have gone the last ones were in my toes. The present pains are in the
feet again but generated from the nerve that runs under the buttocks, now the
feeling has come back to that area it makes sitting in the wheelchair most
uncomfortable, but that is the next problem to get over, but I will, in the knowledge
that something else will improve when the new pains subside.


Now, what I would like to say to everyone who reads this is; if you have any medical problem try it,
and more importantly "stick with it"!
Most of all have faith in the healing power of gravity, it has worked for me, AND WHEN I WALK AGAIN!
I will first thank Andrew, and secondly I will let everyone that reads this web page know about it.

John Cann