Unit for spinal injury patients opens

Guest Sir Jimmy Savile chats to patient Richard Jenkins and physiotherapist Fiona Elliott at the official opening of a £2m rehabilitation unit at a Yorkshire hospital.

The unit at the new 300m Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, includes a new sports hall, a court for basketball and table tennis, IT facilities and a conditioning suite which has a range of machines including specialised treadmills.

The regional spinal injuries centre has more than 1,200 day patient visits a year from patients across the north of England. Sixty per cent of patients are able to use their legs – usually with some form of walking aid – after completing their rehabilitation programme.

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The facilities have been built using funds donated by the The Stepping Stones Appeal.

Other guests at yesterday’s event included Sir Rodney Walker, honorary president of the appeal, and Veronica Trueman, the widow of Yorkshire cricketer Fred Trueman, who was a long-standing supporter of the spinal injuries centre and appeal. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.

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