SCI Life: May 2015


Tiffiny Carlson
Tiffiny Carlson

Ready, Set, Beastmode

We all have excuses why we’re not in shape, and Simon Calcavecchia, a 32-year-old C5-6 quad from Olympia, Wash., was no different. A former rugby player injured playing in 2002, Calcavecchia’s weight reached an all-time high of 235 pounds.

“I felt helpless when it came to losing it. It wasn’t until I saw myself lying in a hospital bed after weeks of barely having an appetite, that I realized there was an attractive guy underneath all those layers.” When Calcavecchia started gaining back the weight he wanted to avoid, a friend introduced him to the Atkins diet. “It was the first diet that gave me the confidence to be able to lose weight.”

Simon Calcavecchia
Simon Calcavecchia photo by Heather Schofner

But Calacavecchia eventually slid back into his old ways. It wasn’t until two years ago when he started to really get healthy; a wheelchair weightlifting video changed his mindset. “I couldn’t believe that guys with similar injuries as mine were bodybuilding. It was a life-changing moment. I decided that from then on, no more excuses.”

When Calcavecchia started working out, he was weak. “It was a time when the peak of my physical exertion depended on the genre of the video game I was playing.” Starting with light wrist weights, he eventually graduated to a wrist hook system that allows him to grab resistant bands, pull down bars, and lift dumbbells. Calacavecchia also started playing quad rugby.

“After I’m done stretching, I like to box the air for 10 minutes to the tunes of Rocky Balboa’s theme music. That usually gets me mentally prepared to go beastmode in the gym.” Calcavecchia’s next fitness goal is to climb Mount Adams in 2016 with a custom snow-pod climber. You can keep track of his progress on the Facebook page: Mt. Adams: We Won’t Stop Until The Top.

Watch his videos: youtube.com/user/SimonMarcus

SCISegfree

If a Segway and a Wheelchair Had a Baby

Invented by Mario Stoltz, whose wife was injured in a motorcycle accident in 2012, the Segfree is a seated version of the Segway — Stolz’ answer to his wife’s (and his) new limitations, the most frustrating of which is his no longer being able to take walks and hold his wife’s hand.

With a seat added, a detachable steering column for easy transfers, engineered landing gear, an electric actuator and a height/depth adjustable backrest, the Segfree is transformed into a device that not only enables hand-holding while on-the-go, but opens up the entire world, adding enhanced balance and fluidity.

There are two versions of the Segfree — the i2 and X2 (the X2 has a wider 84cm base for outdoor use). Note, however, the Segfree is a kit. It includes all the necessary parts, but a Segway is not included. The base price for a kit is $2,900.

Hands-Free Musicality

The harmonica may be one of the few truly hands-free instruments known to man, and for high-level quadriplegics it is the one instrument that can be fully played. Case in point: Jeremy Olson, a C2 quad from New Zealand, who has created free online hands-free harmonica lessons at his site, Increasing Control.


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