Friday, April 13, 2018

PVA Awareness Month Recognizes Veterans Living With Spinal Cord Injury and Disease



PVA Awareness Month Recognizes Veterans Living With Spinal Cord Injury and Disease

April campaign highlights organization’s work in adaptive sports, employment, research, health care and accessible design


WASHINGTON, DC 4/6/18—This April, during PVA Awareness Month, Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans) will celebrate the strength and perseverance of veterans living with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D) by sharing their inspirational stories. The organization will also highlight its efforts to ensure that veterans with spinal cord injury are able to live full and productive lives through adaptive sportsemploymentresearch advances, health care and accessible design for people with disabilities.

“While Paralyzed Veterans of America celebrates the inspiring stories of our veteran members every day, April is a time for us to really share these stories with the public to help build our community of support for veterans living with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D),” said David Zurfluh, an Air Force veteran and quadriplegic who serves as national president of Paralyzed Veterans of America. “The great thing about PVA Awareness Month is that you have 30 days to do something—get involved through one of our local Chapters, learn more about our members, and our programs and services—share these resources with veterans you know, work to make your community accessible for disabled veterans and all people with disabilities. Whatever it is, we encourage you to get involved and be part of our community of support.”

Paralyzed Veterans provides free programs for veterans including its year-round adaptive sports programs, and employment program—PAVE (Paving Access for Veterans Employment). The veterans organization also invests in research through its PVA Research Foundation, and funds new projects and research advances being made in spinal cord injury care, including at Yale’s Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research, and advances in technology that benefit wheelchair users that are being developed at the University of Pittsburgh’s Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL).

Paralyzed Veterans’ Chapters will also be holding events across the country all month long. To get involved, find a PVA Awareness Chapter event near you, or learn more about PVA Awareness Month, visit pva.org/pam.

MEDIA CONTACT: Lani Poblete, 202-416-7736, lanip@pva.org