SFU RESEARCH ADDS TO FRACKING FIGHT
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SUMMER AND THE DRINKING IS EASY
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STROKE PATIENT TRANSFERS KNOCKED
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WEDNESDAY
AUGUST 6 2014 www.burnabynewsleader.com
A broad-based coalition has announced its mayoral candidate as part of its bid to upset the BCA stranglehold on Burnaby civic politics. See Page A3
Fewer homeless, but more may be hidden Mario Bartel
photo@burnabynewsleader.com
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Micaela Evans needs a motorized wheelchair to get around, but that hasn’t stopped her from pursuing studies in communications at Simon Fraser University. She recently acquired a set of robotic arms to help her perform daily tasks more easily.
Robotic arms give student independence Mario Bartel
photo@burnabynewsleader.com
Micaela Evans couldn’t remember the last time she hugged someone. The degenerative effects of spinal muscular atrophy, a form of Muscular Dystrophy, had sapped her arms of so much strength, she could no longer fully embrace someone she loved. So when the 19-year-old communications student at Simon Fraser University was fitted with a pair of new Robotic WREX arms in
January, Evans used her new-found elastics give her the strength and strength to hug her mom, who cried. motion to do things like lift a pot “It was just really awesome to over a stove. Or wrap her arms all be able to do that the way around her again,” said Evans. mom. The WREX arms The arms aren’t are a lightweight cheap. Each one Micaela Evans exoskeleton that costs $5,000 and has I wanted to be in a big city to take advantage of all the supports Evans’ to be custom built crazy opportunities it has. arms between the and fitted for its wrist and elbow. A wearer. brace that attaches to her motorized Evans was able to acquire her wheelchair essentially makes her arms with a Safeway mobility grant. arms weightless, and a series of For six years the grocery company’s
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Make Muscles Move campaign has been able to provide $2.6 million to acquire 572 specialized pieces of equipment to help people with Muscular Dystrophy regain movement and independence. That independence was especially important for Evans. She grew up in Armstrong and knew from an early age a small town in the Okanagan was no place for someone who needed a motorized wheelchair to get around.
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There are fewer homeless people in Burnaby. But that’s still nothing to proud of, says Wanda Mulholland of the Burnaby Task Force on Homelessness. Burnaby’s homeless dropped by 26 per cent compared to 2011, according to the 2014 Homeless Count conducted in on March 12 by the Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness. The count, done every three years, is conducted by more than 900 volunteers who seek out and survey people living in the streets, temporary shelters or even couch surfing. Mulholland said the snapshot nature of the count likely means there aren’t actually fewer homeless people in Burnaby, it’s just harder to find them. “Burnaby is a lovely place and there are so many people who are not able to benefit because of extreme poverty,” she said. “We’re seeing new people all the time.” Mulholland said one particularly disturbing trend is the number of long-term homeless in Burnaby.
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