Pool Accident Victim Helped by Center
Howard, who was a great dancer in the heyday of the disco era, was now a paraplegic laying on a Stryker in the hospital.
He later got a medically-equipped van so he could drive and his girlfriend stood by his side through it all later marrying him.
Howard was a father of three daughters, all of whom lived with him and then became a stepfather to his girlfriend’s daughter.
At some point Howard learned to walk with a walker and then a cane.
Sadly, he died of cancer in the fall of 1988.
A medical association chief advises caution about selecting care when it comes to rehab.
The facility where Nat Little spends most of his time offers an alternative to traditional medicine and therapy, clients of A Link For Life say, according to a recent article.
“It’s more of a holistic approach to things,” said Jay Newman, a former quadriplegic who began visiting the wellness center in May after meeting Little’s mother, said writer Stella Chavez.
The Farmers Branch, TX center doesn’t accept insurance and gets new business primarily through word of mouth, according to policy.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” said Newman, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Dallas, Inc. “My appointment with the center’s owner and medical director Tamela Johnson lasted two hours. After about an hour she says to me, ‘I could give you acupuncture but that’s not really going to solve the problem.’ She determined that my hips were out of line and that I was low on potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus. The pain disappeared.”
Newman had been paralyzed for eight days after injuring his spinal cord in a swimming pool accident, he said.
But he still had numbness in his foot and hand and pain when he walked, said doctors.
“My agency doesn’t endorse these types of wellness centers and I suggest people learn about them before using them,” said Dr. Robert Gunby, president of the Texas Medical Association. “Certainly anything that helps is okay but so much of this doesn’t have any real proof of its effectiveness.”
“More people are seeking alternative forms of medicine or therapy either in addition to, or instead of, visiting a doctor,” said William Morris, president of the American Association of Oriental Medicine.
“The 2005 book Complimentary and Alternative Medicine in the United States stated that about one-third of adults in the country use complimentary and alternative medicine but less than 40 percent tell their health care providers,” says Chavez.
“I think that speaks to a clear need within the U.S. for interventions which are lower risk,” said Morris. “People are concerned about the risk of some prescription drugs.”
