Not forgetting Robin Cavendish!
Jan 13, 2018 10:01:05 GMT -8
Post by Lαrα on Jan 13, 2018 10:01:05 GMT -8
I watched a very interesting film last night called 'Breathe'. It is a biography of Robin Cavendish, a Polio sufferer who became paralyzed from the neck down and vented but helped progress the development of adapted living for those who suffer from paralysis.
This guy fought against the primitive way of thinking and treatment of those who are paralyzed, that goodness for people like him whose life and suffering became benefitted so many others.
Apart from the historical facts that I learnt from watching the film, it was actually a great watch, a story of hope, determination and the power of compassion and love. If you have the opportunity to watch it, enjoy! 
In 1962, Cavendish and his friend Teddy Hall, the Oxford University professor, developed a wheelchair with a built-in respirator that freed Cavendish from confinement to his bed, which became the model for future devices of its type, with Cavendish eventually using a total of 10 different chairs. Determined that mobility should be available to other polio survivors, Cavendish raised money from the Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust for the first dozen chairs, and eventually persuaded the then British Department of Health to fund a series of chairs, which were manufactured by Teddy Hall's company, Littlemore Scientific Engineering.
After testing them on himself, Cavendish helped to market pieces of equipment that improve the quality of life of disabled people. Most notable among these was the Possum, which Cavendish developed with scientists at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, and which allowed users to use the telephone, turn on a television or adjust a home's central heating with only a left-or-right movement of their head. Others included a lightweight ventilator that ran on batteries, and a modified aircraft seat fitted with electronic aids. Littlemore received government funding to make another forty chair-and-ventilator sets. Source: Wlkipedia
After testing them on himself, Cavendish helped to market pieces of equipment that improve the quality of life of disabled people. Most notable among these was the Possum, which Cavendish developed with scientists at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, and which allowed users to use the telephone, turn on a television or adjust a home's central heating with only a left-or-right movement of their head. Others included a lightweight ventilator that ran on batteries, and a modified aircraft seat fitted with electronic aids. Littlemore received government funding to make another forty chair-and-ventilator sets. Source: Wlkipedia