Horace Mann - Winter 2012 - (Page 13)

celebrating 125 years: preparing great and giving lives with traumatic brain injury (Tbi), and works with children on the autism spectrum in new york city schools. With its “running your life” motivational and physical training program at the friedman Diabetes institute of ny’s beth israel Hospital, achilles runners are contributing to research that has shown exercise to be as effective as medication in some instances in treating diabetes. achilles also helps people with Tbi at the nyU Medical center rusk institute for rehabilitation Medicine brain injury Day Treatment center train for marathons. Through a second achilles chapter at rusk’s physical therapy department, and through its participation in exercise and Tbi research at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Traum declared, “We’ve noted fantastic improvement with the Tbi runners.” Traum also reports seeing success with autism. achilles has programs in 140 nyc schools, where a number of children are on the autism spectrum. Many are finding improvements in their social integration through their work with achilles. the freedom teAm as the U.S. ends its involvement in iraq this winter, national focus will turn to iraq War veterans reintegrating into american society. Dr. Traum and achilles international have focused on these veterans since 2003, around the time media coverage began highlighting veterans returning from the conflict with severely disabling wounds. Traum and achilles vice-president Mary bryant started visiting Walter reed army Medical center, then in Washington D.c., to encourage the wounded soldiers to consider running. in their two dozen trips to Walter reed Traum and bryant promoted the achilles approach of physical strengthening, confidence building, and supportive community to the specific needs of wounded veterans—“our country’s heroes,” Traum said. in 2005, bryant named the group The achilles freedom Team of Wounded veterans. “it wasn’t easy,” Traum reported. “We would encourage these veterans to run and resume an active life. They would tell us ‘i lost my leg three weeks ago. i’m not interested in running.’ imagine yourself in a hospital and some old guy comes in and says you need to train for a marathon.” over time some of the veterans decided they were up for the challenge. “virtually every person who is wounded is an athlete. if you joined the armed services you’re an athlete: the training, the running, the wall-climbing—all of that is athletics. We provided the veterans a goal to help them get back to an active life. The physical therapists at Walter reed supported us and became our buddies. More veterans started working out, and doing marathons. Soldiers who were having 10, 20 or 40 surgeries would return to the hospital to applause with a marathon medal around their neck. The spirit was catching. patients started asking their doctors to schedule surgeries around their marathons. The training distracted the veterans from a boring existence, and the activity improved their spirits, and raised their level of aspiration. They got to bond with a group, and their body language encouraged others, saying: ‘i may have lost a couple of legs, but i haven’t lost the ability to be active and part of a team,’” Traum said. The achilles program for veterans evolved as did the war. “When we started going to Walter reed typically we saw soldiers who had lost a leg. by 2008, we saw soldiers who had lost two legs and an arm. The explosive devices (ieDs) became more sophisticated, and so did the process of saving lives in the field. Today field medics are saving people they never could before. We have quadruple amputees running.” initially, Traum and bryant encouraged people to run on an artificial limb. “We realized this was pretty hard, especially if the residual limb was still healing. consequently, achilles introduced specialized and adaptive devices, including the hand-crank wheelchair. “first they train with a hand-crank, and do a marathon with a hand-crank. next they may run on their artificial leg, or legs. The Hope and possibility 5 mile race is important, as a bridge to longer races for some,” Traum explained. “We had one soldier, Major David rozelle, who wanted to rejoin his battalion in iraq. The army said he couldn’t return to combat because he only had one leg. He told them ‘i just did a marathon’. The army let him reenlist. He is the first person in U.S. history to return to battle with an artificial limb.” achilles’ affiliation with the veterans didn’t miss a step when the 102-year-old Walter reed army Medical center of Washington D.c. closed in august 2011. achilles relocated with the hospital’s patients and staff to the new Walter reed national Medical center in bethesda, Md. achilles also reaches out to veterans at balboa naval Hospital in San Diego, ca, and brooke army Medical center in San antonio, TX. “close to 1,000 veterans, men and women are part of our program,” said Traum. The organization’s latest achievement is its Kayaking Team for Wounded veterans and Disabled persons. achilles international launched kayak programs on ny’s Hudson river and long island Sound in 2007. Since 2010, achilles teams have competed in major east coast kayak races. last summer Traum himself was a fierce contender throughout a four-hour 20-mile race in Massachusetts. “Kayaking is a beautiful transition, particularly for the veterans. it’s a way to mainstream. for an amputee, kayaking provides a level playing field,” said Traum. learn more at www.achillesinternational. org, and read Huffington post’s “Greatest person of the Day” profile of Dick Traum at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/cssimi/dick-traum-disabled-veterans-athletes. $ dick Traum ’58 runs with President bill clinton. Horace mann magazine Winter 2012 13 http://www.achillesinternational.org http://www.achillesinternational.org http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/03/dick-traum-disabled-veterans-athletes_n_917202.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/03/dick-traum-disabled-veterans-athletes_n_917202.html

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Horace Mann - Winter 2012

Horace Mann - Winter 2012
Contents
Letters
Greetings from Dr. Tom Kelly
Greetings from Melissa Parento ’90
Horace Mann School’s 125th Anniversary Observances Begin
Strategic Thinking
New Initiatives in Institutional Research and Admissions
HM's New Director of College Counseling
Timothy HO and Monica Merlo are 2011 Tina and Dave Bellet Teaching Excellence Award Winners
Langfan Oratorical Contest, 2011
Horace Mann School Graduates 178 in June, 2011
Alumni Council Corner
Bookshelf
Class Notes
Memorials
Philanthropy and You

Horace Mann - Winter 2012