by Erin Siniff
In February of 1997 U.S. Army veteran Dan Alberts was involved in a snowmobile accident that resulted in a tear in his aorta. Alberts survived the injury that doctors thought would take his life, but it left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Prior to his injury, Alberts was an avid athlete and outdoorsman. Standing almost seven feet tall, he participated in many community sports leagues and enjoyed time fishing on the river. His injury has not slowed him down. Today, Alberts is the captain and one of the star players on his wheelchair basketball team, the Iowa Chairiots, and he plays in numerous competitive and exhibition games throughout the year.
Alberts’s tenacity as a ball player spills over into many other aspects of his life, including how he addresses life with a spinal cord injury (SCI). According to Terry Clark, the SCI Program primary care provider, “Dan won’t be stopped by his disability.” Alberts works closely with SCI Physical Therapist, David Carmody, in finding adaptive aides and recreational equipment that keep him in the game.
The Iowa City VAMC has played a pivotal role in helping Dan Alberts stay active by obtaining specialized wheelchairs that allow him to play basketball and an adaptive bike so he can go out on the road with his cycling team.
Alberts’s strong desire to stay fit through standing was the driving force behind his and Camody’s search to find a standing frame that could accommodate Alberts’s physical stature-he’s 6 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 300 pounds.
According to Carmody, “We simply could not find a standing frame that could support Dan’s height.”
What they eventually found was a wheelchair which, when stopped and locked in braked position, could elevate Alberts to a standing position. The chair is able to provide him the support he needs when standing due to the wheelchair’s innovative design which allows the arms to pivot and wrap around the user’s chest thereby supporting the torso. The chair is also equipped with a leg bracing system that prevents buckling of the knees.
The standing wheelchair Alberts received from the Iowa City VAMC is a custom built model manufactured by The Standing Company of Saginaw, Michigan. This chair will increase his mobility by allowing him to reach items he could only look at for the last 8 years. Additionally, being able to stand will help prevent problems that often accompany long periods of being in a wheelchair: skin breakdown, bone demineralization, poor circulation, muscle contractures, and neck and shoulder pain.
During his first few attempts at standing in his new chair, Alberts was very excited to take in a different view of the world, most notably the tops of the SCI team members heads. Asked if he would use the chair for dunk shots, Alberts said, “Don’t think I won’t try!”
Erin Siniff, MSW, is a social work intern at the SCI Unit of the Iowa City VA Medical Center, Iowa.
