View full sizeOccupational therapist Karen Nagao (left) massages Bailey Falk, as volunteer Whitney Chappell holds Bailey and nursing assistant Heather Simoneau helps during a water therapy session.For the children, water works wonders.
One boy took the first steps of his life in a warm swimming pool. Another spoke his first word there, "bubble." And a girl, her spine severely curved and one hip splayed at an odd angle since birth, hears she's headed for the pool and begins to sing in a style her therapist likens to the mesmerizing calls of whales.
"As soon as she's in that environment," says Karen Nagao, "she's happy and smiling."
Nagao is one of two therapists who routinely lead outpatients and residents of the
through aquatic therapy sessions. The water work, she says, eases patients' chronic pain, improves their mobility, muscle tone, digestion and sleep patterns. Some breathe more easily because of it. Others emerge with better verbal or social skills. Water calms the children, Nagao says, and appears to bring them utter joy.
Nagao knows some joy this week, too. She's thrilled at a fundraiser planned for Saturday that aims to net $75,000 to keep the center's cash-strapped aquatic therapy program afloat, and perhaps even double the number of sessions it offers patients annually, from 270 to 540.
Portland swimmer
will spearhead an approximately 6-mile Columbia River swim stretching between the I-205 and I-5 bridges. Gaffney and 22 other participants have raised about $55,000, and they hope the cash keeps coming as they jump into the river before 7 a.m. Saturday and head downstream.
The swim is not open to the public, but seats remain available on a
breakfast cruise that's part of the
. (See accompanying story for details.)
Team Gaffney Swim & Cruise for the Kids
For Karen Gaffney, this weekend’s fundraiser for Providence Child Center’s aquatic therapy program fits as well as the wetsuit she’ll likely wear Saturday.
Her father, Jim, started teaching her to swim when she was 9 months old, figuring it would help improve the poor muscle tone common among children born with Down syndrome, as Karen was. A dedicated daily swimming routine has kept her mobile ever since, including easing pain and getting her back in shape after five surgeries requiring body casts.
View full sizeKAREN GAFFNEYGaffney, 33, president of the
that bears her name, earned a measure of fame a decade ago when she became the first person with Down syndrome to swim the English Channel. She did so as a part of a relay team, and many of the teammates who helped her achieve that goal will be back in the water with her Saturday for the
fundraiser.
Gaffney volunteers periodically at
, home to the
. Her parents Jim and Barbara are longtime supporters.
The three repeatedly embrace new challenges for Karen — last year, she swam more than eight miles from Vermont to New York across Lake Champlain to raise awareness of the potential possessed by those with developmental disabilities.
So when they decided on an open-water swim in the Columbia River — stretching about six miles, between the I-205 and I-5 bridges — they decided to use it to raise awareness for a cause close to their hearts, the benefits of water exercise for disabled children.
The swim is not open to the public, but a breakfast cruise aboard the Portland Spirit is and seats remain available. Tickets cost $100. The boat sets sail at 7:30 a.m. Saturday from the
and the event will wrap up around 11 a.m. Those aboard will have the opportunity to watch Gaffney and 22 other swimmers ply the Columbia for a cause. To reserve, call the
, 503-215-2406.
About four years ago, Nagao, an occupational therapist, started taking young Providence Child Center residents into an on-site whirlpool tub, and immediately watched her patients relax. She was able to stretch muscles in patients for whom such a maneuver typically causes pain, but in the supportive buoyancy of water, the children calmed. Not only could they endure the therapy, they could enjoy it.
Today, in addition to the whirlpool, Providence therapists use a hospital pool and the super-warm
in Southwest Portland. They share the therapy pools with others aiming to alleviate arthritis pain or rehabilitate muscles and improve mobility after strokes or injuries.
Therapists lead the children through range-of-motion exercises, relaxation techniques and simple, fun-filled play.
In an ideal world, Nagao says, aquatic therapy would be part of the childrens' daily routine. But the sessions take about 2 1/2 hours -- including transportation, changing the patients into swimwear, lifting them in and out of the water and showering. Because they require all that time and the work of one therapist and two aides, they cost about $200 a session.
The 58-bed Child Center, which spends about $30,000 a year on the aquatic therapy program, can't afford to include it in residents' routines more than about once a quarter.
To care for its residents, the center spends about $150,000 per child per year. Donations cover what Medicaid and private insurers don't, so the center fundraises constantly.
On a recent day in the
93-degree pool, Nagao and her helpers worked with Kirby Schronk, a 21-year-old with cerebral palsy. Before moving to the Child Center, he'd spent much of his life at home, curled in a near-fetal position in bed.
In the water, therapists and aides watched as, slowly but surely, his body unfurled. Today, he's strong enough to slap down a dolphin-style kick of his own and as he does, a smile stretches wide across his face. Nagao matches it.