Former Circus Star Attempts Stunts as Paraplegic In hopes of recapturing the excitement that he experienced while performing in the circus as part of the Flying Wallendas, Mario Wallenda, now 64, is aiming to get back on the tightrope in a specially built two-wheeled electric “sky cycle.” More than 40 years ago, Wallenda tumbled from a tightrope and has since been a paraplegic. For 5 months after his accident, Wallenda, a Florida resident, attended rehabilitation in Detroit where his exercises consisted of muscle-building moves mainly for the upper body. “My physical therapy routine concentrated on helping me become independent to perform my daily activities, such as dressing, getting in and out of my chair, and getting in and out of bed,” says Wallenda. “If the accident had happened recently, I probably would have seen better results because of the advancements in rehabilitation.” Wallenda is the adopted son of Karl Wallenda, the patriarch of the famous Flying Wallenda family of acrobats. With help from his nephew, Tino Wallenda, Mario developed a stunt for the 1996 Special Olympics in Atlanta, but due to liability issues, the stunt was canceled. In 2001, they taped a stunt for Guinness World Records, which featured Wallenda 40 feet above the parking lot of a Sarasota church. This performance never aired on US television. However, Guinness let him keep all of the equipment, which was worth thousands of dollars. Recently, Wallenda performed at an event organized by his sister, where he traveled in his sky cycle on a 72-foot wire 40 ft above the ground; this, however, failed to garner much local publicity. Today, Wallenda is looking for paid stunt work; his sister manages his performance bookings. He is anxious to spend some of his retirement doing what he did in his youth — entertaining people. Arthritis Patients Face Steep Health Costs According to research presented at the recent American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in San Antonio, people with arthritis face at least double the expenses for medical care when compared to the general population for all levels of expenditures examined. The greatest factor leading to the higher costs was found to be limitations in daily activities. Researchers looked at results from the 1999-2000 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to track expenditures for patients with arthritis within a sample of 4,176 individuals, age 45 or older. The survey followed the individuals for 2 years, gathering information about chronic diseases including arthritis, demographics, and functional limitations in daily living such as walking, bending, grasping, and dressing. The expenditures monitored included office and hospital-based care, home health care, dental services, vision aids, other medical equipment and services, and prescribed medicines. Researchers examined three questions: 1) Do persons with arthritis have higher expenditures than those without; 2) Does arthritis result in increased costs after adjusting for differences in age, race, and gender, economics, and the presence of other chronic conditions; and 3) What contributes to these high expenditures? Skiing Okay for Knee Pain Sufferers
John Maley
