About Paralysis

Paralysis is the loss of ability to move a part or parts of the body due to spinal cord injury or disease. Paralysis is most often caused by trauma (falling, car accident, etc.) or diseases such as polio and spina bifida, among others. Paralysis does not necessarily imply that the spinal cord is severed or detached, but simply that it has been damaged to the point of causing a loss of function.

Approximately 250,000 – 400,000 individuals in the United States have spinal cord injuries. Every year, approximately 11,000 people sustain new spinal cord injuries – that’s thirty new injuries every day. Most of these people are injured in auto and sports accidents, falls, and industrial mishaps. An estimated 60 percent of these individuals are 30 years old or younger, and the majority of them are men.