I have been meaning to write about an amazing benefit concert that was held for me not long ago.  This concert was an incredible display of how good people are.  I am very thankful for all of those who attended the concert.  I have been extremely busy with different things and haven’t had a chance to sit down and place my thoughts on my website.   

The ‘Friends of Matt Concert’ was another hit.  This is the second year that the concert has been put on.  Mrs. Teresa Davis has been putting on the concert and she does a great job at making it a hit.  This concert is an event where all of my friends from around the community got together to hear some outstanding music.  There are many talented performers who perform on stage.  I also showed one of my new therapy videos on the screen for those in attendance (http://youtube.com/watch?v=IOngg-A1XIo). I want to say a special thank you to all of the performers who came and took out the time to perform.  It was truly a great time.  Thanks also to First Baptist Church for allowing the concert to be held there. I really appreciate the donations that were given to help further my therapy and rehab.  These donations give me the opportunity to go to different therapy institutes and further my therapy.  I am very humbled by the generosity of those in attendance.  I also want to send a really big thank you to all of those who put on the event.  There are too many people to name names, but I want thank all of you guys for the time that you put in at making this such an awesome event.  Mrs. Sallie Owyoung did a great job of taking some excellent pictures of the performers and the event.  You can take a look at them by selecting “Matt’s Flickr Photos” at the top right of this page and run as a slideshow.  Thanks a lot for all of the thoughts, prayers, and support… God Bless!!!

Matt C 

After spending a couple of days in Washington DC, I then had to travel over to Baltimore Tuesday afternoon.  I had a scheduled photo shoot at Kennedy Krieger Institute, where I am being profiled for a publication Kennedy Krieger Institute sends out.  After we checked in to the hotel, I then wheeled down to Camden Yards, which was two blocks away.  Camden Yards is the home ballpark of the Baltimore Orioles.  As I arrived at Camden Yards, I met up with my therapist Claire and my friend Scott.  We then looked at the extremely long line of people waiting to get tickets, which was nearly a quarter of a mile long.  However, Camden Yards has its own disability ticket counter, which only had one person in line.  I then got to skip the quarter of a mile long ticket pursuers and head into the gate.  There were hundreds of onlookers who looked at me and my chair with envy…  I got a laugh out of saying, “Claire, you get me out of my chair walking and I get you out of ticket lines.”  We then watched the Orioles get beat pretty bad by the Toronto Blue Jays.  We had a pretty good time at the game though. 

I woke up early Wednesday and headed to Kennedy Krieger Institute where I took lots of pictures.  This is my first ever photo shoot and it was a bit different than the accustomed action shots I am used to taking while doing therapy.  I felt a bit uncomfortable posing and such.  I guess you can say that I am not cut out to be a model or actor.  After taking the pictures, I then got to look at all of them and they all turned out great.  They even commented saying that they got a great portrait picture for my Nana and Grandmother.  After taking the pictures I then got the opportunity to wheel down to the therapy center and say hello to all of the therapists and patients.  It was great to see all of them again.  I even showed Claire and some of the therapists how I could stand up without braces.  After not working out for a couple of days, it wasn’t nearly as good as I was standing last week, but it was still pretty good.  We all ordered pizza and sat down for lunch together.  It was neat to see all of them again and I can’t wait to get back in July and continue my therapy at KKI.  Later that night we also went to dinner with some friends we met last summer from WI.  It was neat to see them again. 

I will be flying home from Washington DC tomorrow afternoon.  I am looking forward to getting back home and continuing my therapy.  I had a great time in both DC and Baltimore.  There are some special people up here and I am happy to have these individuals in my life.  I want to thank all of you for all of the thoughts, prayers, and support…  God Bless!!!

Matt C
 

Working 2 Walk is a spinal cord injury conference designed to educate, advocate, and motivate those with spinal cord injuries.  It is a three day event that is full of all sorts of different events.  This was my first year to attend the Working2Walk conference.  I was very impressed with the conference and all of the inspiring individuals in attendance.  The website of the conference is www.working2walk.org.

Day 1 - The first day of Working2Walk was very exciting.  I did not know what to expect going into this event.  The location of the event was the Kellogg Conference Center at Gallaudet University.  The Kellogg Conference Center also had a hotel, which was where we stayed.  The first morning I arrived in the lobby to see a lot of other indivduals with spinal cord injuries.  I also saw some familiar faces such as some of my friends from Kennedy Krieger Institute and also some of my friends from SCI-Step.  It was great to see these people again.  I also finally got to meet another guy named Geoff Kent for the first time.  Geoff has a spinal cord injury and is an awesome guy.  I have talked to Geoff for months and have discussed different types of therapy with him.  It was great to finally meet Geoff.  The first day started with a morning meeting in the ballroom where an introduction was given to the conference.  After this we then split up into groups and attended different sessions in classrooms.  Each session had a public speaker.  These speakers consisted of mostly Scientific Research Doctors.  Among these doctors were Dr. John McDonald, Dr. Hans Keirstead, Dr. Wise Young, Dr. Stephen Davies, and Dr. Simon Archibald.  All of these doctors are held in high regard when it comes to spinal cord injury research.  I enjoyed the sessions and learned all sorts of information.  I was very impressed with all of the research.  After hearing the information, I know without a doubt that the term “permanent paralysis” will fade out of our society.  After going through all of the sessions, there was a networking reception sponsored by the Sam Schmidt Foundation.  This was very neat because all of the individuals in attendance had a chance to interact with each other.  I got to meet some incredible individuals that I have a lot of respect for.  The first Day of Working2Walk was then finally over.

DAY 2 - The second day of Working2Walk was also another great day.  I was very excited to get back down to the conference and learn more information.  The second day started in the ballroom with a list of great speakers.  The first speaker was Jennifer French of Neurotech Network (www.neurotechnetwork.org) and she is a great lady.  Jennifer once interviewed me over the phone about the RTI FES Bike for her newsletter.  I always wanted to meet her and it was great to finally put a face to all of the kind words.  There was also other speakers who spoke about different FES products.  Jennifer outlined all of the speakers.  One of the guys that spoke was an amazing guy.  His name was Duane Marrow and he was from Atlanta, Georgia.  It was great to hear him talk because I knew that I wasn’t the only southern guy in attendance.  Duane had a spinal cord injury while playing rugby.  He was told he would never walk again.  After three years, Duane is now walking.  He also uses a great product called the Bioness (www.bionessinc.com).  The Bioness helps an individual take steps by stimulating the peripheral nerve in one’s calf.  Also my favorite lady in the world spoke at the end.  Her name is Judy Kline and she works for Restorative Therapies (www.restorative-therapies.com).  She is the lady that takes care of the RTI Bikes and has taken care of me over the past year and a half.  After all of the speakers from the FES category were finished, my favorite speaker of the conference took the podium.  Her name is Dr. Cristina Sadowsky.  Dr. Sadowsky is my doctor at Kennedy Krieger Institute.  She is full of energy and has a wonderful personality.  She explained how critical it was for spinal cord injured patients to maintain great health.  The second day was capped off by a formal dinner banquet.  The banquet was full of lots of food and great music.  There were numerous speakers such as Dr. McDonald, Dr. Young, and Congressman Jim Langevin.  The night finally came to an end after an impressive hip hop performance by quadriplegic Professir X. 

Day 3 - The third day of Working2Walk was called Capitol Hill Day.  This was a time that we all went over to both the House and Senate buildings to advocate about different issues.  The main issue that we were advocating to our senators and congressman was The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act (CDRPA).  This bill is primarily about three things: promoting collaborative scientific research, advancing rehabilitation research, and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis and mobility impairments from any cause — stroke, ALS, spinal cord injuries, Multiple Sclerosis and others.  This bill has been passed through the House, however, has failed to be passed in the Senate.  The bill is now stuck on Senator Coburn’s (Oklahoma) desk.  He has yet to move the bill…  I don’t understand what his hold up is when he has the power to help so many individuals.  I am very proud to say that all of my congressman and senators from Arkansas support the bill.  During the day I had the opportunity to meet with Congressman Jim Langevin, Congressman Mike Ross, and Senator Mark Pryor’s aide.  Both Congressman Langevin and Congressman Ross have made major impacts in my life.  Congressman Langevin, who is a quadriplegic, is a prime example that you can do anything that you put your mind to.  He is one of the main reasons that I am a political science major.  Congressman Ross is also an incredible guy.  The compassion and determination he has for helping others is incredible.  I am proud to have him as my Represenative and I am thankful for all of the support that he has displayed for both me and my family.

Working2Walk was an amazing experience.  I am very happy with the conference and I highly recommend it to others who are interesting in learning more about the spinal cord community.  I have created numerous new friendships at this convention.  I want to send a special thank you to all of the volunteers and indivduals who put in the time to make this thing happen.  I can’t express my gratitude enough to these people who are all driven to one common goal: Working 2 Walk!!!

To view the pictures from Working2Walk, click on the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattcourson/sets/72157604523762472/ 

God Bless,

Matt C

On my heroes you can find a really neat guy with not a lot of hair.  His name is Dave Denniston.  Many of you have heard about him, but for those of you who haven’t…  Dave is an incredible guy.  A couple of years ago Dave was a world class swimmer.  He was a member of the 1999 NCAA Championship team at Auburn University and was also a member of the USA World Championship Team 2003.  On Super Bowl Sunday in 2005, Dave and his friend were having a great time in the mountains, sledding down some snow-covered slopes, until Dave slid into a tree and damaged his spine.  The accident left Dave, for the time being, without the use of his legs.

I met Dave in 2007 at Project Walk in Carlsbad, California.  He was one of the first spinal cord injury patients that I had ever met that was striving towards the same goal as me, walking again.  It was also pretty neat to know that there were other former athletes just like me out there.     

Early last fall, Dave started upon another journey.  He has been training to swim at the highest level for a paraplegic.  I actually got to see Dave swim in Maryland, which was an awesome experience…  He has trained his body where he can compete at the highest level again.  Well this past week, Dave accomplished one of his goals.  Dave was selected to participate in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing as a member of Team USA.  He is extremely excited and told me that it is such an honor to get to represent the USA.  I am very proud of Dave and it couldn’t have happened to a better guy.  For more information on Dave and his journey towards the Paralympics feel free to check out his website: www.davedenniston.com. 

Matt C

I have recently compiled a new therapy video of some of the new things that I am able to do.  This video is of some things I have learned to do after the tremendous of amount of hard work in my therapy.  The song in the video is called ‘Quitters’ and it is a song that has just been released by Collin Raye.  I would like to thank all of my past therapists for putting in the hard work and dedication to help me get where I am today.  My father and I have been working on a lot of this therapy at home and I am also very grateful for both his time and effort.  I want to thank all of you for your thoughts, prayers, and support… God Bless!!!

Here is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOngg-A1XIo

Growing up I have spent many of hours at the local baseball complex here in McGehee, Arkansas.  I always spent many of hours as both a player and as an umpire.  This year, I will be doing something else…  Friday night I have recieved the honor to throw out the first pitch at the opening ceremonies for the 2008 McGehee Baseball Season.  I am very excited about this honor and the opportunity to interact with young individuals.  I remember being a young player and watching some great individuals throw out the first pitch such as Rex Denton, Kayo Dottley, etc.  I am very humbled to recieve the honor to be apart such an elite group.  I have thrown a ton of pitches in my lifetime and it seems that I am not finished yet.  Lets just hope I have a strike left!!! 

Matt C