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TEAM EFFORT: The
Coeur d’Alene Elks
Foundation; the Coeur
d'Alene Section of the
Society for Mining,
Metallurgy and
Exploration; the Wallace
Gyro Lead Creek Derby;
the Wallace Rotary
Club; and numerous
community donors all
helped raise money to
bring an FES bike
to Coeur d’Alene for
Alan Wilson and other
patients.
From left: Britt Towery,
Kootenai Health
Foundation Manager;
Dawn Fitzgerald,
Kootenai Health
Rehabilitation Services;
Luke Russell, Hecla
Mining; Steve Peteroni,
Hecla Mining; Sue
Donaghue, Director
of Kootenai Health
Rehabilitation Services;
Pat Braden, Coeur
d’Alene Elks; Dick
Gardner, Coeur d’Alene
Elks; and Janette and
Alan Wilson.
Pedaling Power
R E H A B I L I TAT I O N S E R V I C E S ’ N E W B I K E
B O O S T S T H E R A P Y F O R L O C A L PAT I E N T S
By Stacie Jones
Alan Wilson
rides a bike two times a week. Like many
of us who exercise, he does it in part to improve his
cardiovascular health. But Alan, who is a quadriplegic,
is also motivated by something else.
“Riding the bike helps me build strength in my legs
and prevent muscle atrophy, so that if I do get some
returned use of my legs, I’ll have something to work
with,” he said.
The Coeur d’Alene man suffered a spinal cord injury
after a fall during a recreational pickleball game in
December 2014. The accident left him paralyzed from
the neck down. As part of his rehabilitation, Alan and
his wife, Janette, have traveled to Spokane at least
twice a week for more than a year for therapy on a
Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) cycle. The
cycling system allows patients to exercise the muscles
of paralyzed limbs in order to build muscle strength and
improve fitness.
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