Francis O. Kolawole

Yesterday, I was invited to speak for 30 minutes on 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘐𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘴 — 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. I ended up speaking for hours. With the kind permission of my Deputy Director and Head of Unit, Dr Olusegun Adejare, I left work around 2 pm for a session scheduled 2:30–4 pm. We stayed until a few minutes past 5. What began as a regular talk quickly became a live neurophysiotherapy consultation. SCI survivors asked specific, personal questions — and that opened the door to clear a lot of myths about SCI. 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀: 📌There can be spine injuries without spinal cord injury. 📌There can be spine injuries that lead to spinal cord injury. 📌There can also be spinal cord injury without damage to the bony spine itself — especially in non-traumatic myelopathy (eg. in cases of tumours, abscesses, and similar conditions). For each situation I explained medical and surgical management, then the neurophysiotherapist’s role, neurorehabilitation, and realistic prognosis. From there I covered classification: 📌 𝗖𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲: traumatic and non-traumatic (with examples) 📌 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆: complete and incomplete 📌 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀: skeletal vs neurological (C3–T1, T2–L1, L2–S1) 📌 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀: anterior cord, posterior cord, central cord, Brown-Séquard — what is affected and what to expect for mobility I explained all of this in both English and Yorùbá. Then we moved to complications — especially secondary ones: pressure injuries and infection risk, bladder management, and the hygiene of self-catheterisation as a reliable way to reduce urinary tract infections. On 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 I spoke about: 📌reducing fall risks at home 📌wheelchair accessibility at home and in public spaces 📌muscle strengthening, muscular endurance, and cardiopulmonary exercise 📌postural reconditioning in standing and why standing matters: joint health, weight-bearing sensation, reduced bone demineralisation in the legs, and circulatory benefits for the heart Finally I took their questions — the personal observations and daily challenges they live with. I demonstrated some of the exercises on the spot. The room stayed engaged; it felt as if they would have booked me for the whole day just to keep hearing the facts. I also mentioned the newly inaugurated SCI Patients Forum at University College Hospital, Ibadan — a practical way to access care faster and cut waiting time in the SOP and other clinics. I left my contact for anyone who still has questions. Thank you for reading this far. Thank you Dr Olawale Agbomeji @physiowale for the recommendation 𝗗𝗿 𝗙𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗹𝘂𝗷𝗲 𝗩.𝗢. 𝘕𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘕𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭, 𝘐𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘯