Golfing to help stroke patients walk again

Despite the wet forecast Wednesday morning, a group of golfers was out on the Belvedere golf course in Charlottetown aiming to raise 10s of thousands of dollars for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

It was the annual Harry MacLauchlan"Great Day"Fore Health Memorial Golf Tournament, named in honour of the late Island businessman, and for his favourite saying, "It's a great day."

It's the 18th annual tournament for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation, and this year the goal is to raise $60,000 for new equipment for the stroke centre, specifically, Bioness L300. The L300 is a functional electrical stimulation device that can help stroke patients learn to walk properly again, by stimulating weak muscles to help them lift their foot.

"It allows people to do more things, improve their walking, go up and down stairs, walk on uneven terrain," said stroke unit physiotherapist Mark MacKenzie.

"It's pretty sleek. There's a cuff that can go around the thigh just above the knee and there's also a cuff that can go below the knee."

Improved healing

Previous versions of the device required part of it inside a shoe, said MacKenzie, but this latest device doesn't, meaning people can even walk barefoot on the beach.

The device not only helps someone walk, it helps with the healing and makes it more likely they will be able to eventually walk without it.

"It really promotes neuroplasticity and active recovery," said MacKenzie.

MacKenzie said fundraisers such as this are important for the stroke unit and its patients, because the unit relies on the QEH Foundation for its equipment.

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