… Tom Haig. Tom is an interesting fellow whom I have never met in person but it is like I know him well through my friends at SIRC.
Tom Haig (l) pictured here visiting this family of three disabled people who are building a fully-functional wheelchair-friendly house high up in the Himalayas. May 2016. Photo Credit Tom Haig.
Tom tells me it all started 15 years ago when he and his brother Andy Haig MD, (now retired) Head of University of Michigan Spine Center, saw the need to set up the International Rehabilitation Forum made up of a group of PMR Doctors who work in low resource countries.
In 2012, Tom and his brother ran a conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh where they first met Dr Raju Dhakal. You will remember previous references to Dr Raju in earlier posts, he is currently studying in Dhaka to become Nepal’s first PMR Doctor (Physical Medical Rehabilitation) through funding via Bowen Island’s own Drs Peter Wing and Claire Week’s charity SpiNepal. Dr Raju and the Haig brothers hit it off, resulting in their introduction and later financial support of SIRC during last year’s earthquakes.
Tom is one of those communications specialists that can turn his hand to anything; developing websites “since the dawn of the internet” (his words) for large corporations, universities and small businesses. In addition, he spent six months launching a radio station in the Himalayas and is a regular lecturer in medical colleges and speaker at conferences. He counts videography among his expert skills.
It’s on this basis he spent 4 months at SIRC, producing instructional videos covering topics from the benefits of Peer Counselling to Wheelchair Skills and the Use of Assistive Devices to Physiotherapy tips for people with SCI.
Tom gathered a small team of wheelchair users from the locality to star in these videos and got editing assistance from Rownika Shrestha, daughter of one of SIRC’s patients. By the end of the 4 months, over 30 instructional videos were made. Pretty impressive stuff. Check the out for yourself here. They are mostly in Nepali but because they are instructional, anyone can figure out what is being taught.
In addition to the instructional videos, Tom and his team also did a number of shoots around Kathmandu for the Amrita Foundation for Mental Health, Rishi Dhakal’s student hostel in Jorpati, the Nepal Disabled Table Tennis Association and the video I am featuring below, the Turkish Airlines Wheelchair Basketball League.
It’s about 5 mins in duration and well worth a look and includes shots of the SIRC basketball team in action.
I must say, this work is just fantastic and will be of huge benefit to SIRC as the Centre builds SCI awareness with health care works and the general public across Nepal.
Jai Tom and his team!
For more information:
- Tom Haig: www.tomhaig.com
- International Rehabilitation Forum: http://www.rehabforum.org/
- SIRC’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SpinalNepal
Interesting, as always, Kate! Thanks – Peter.