The Bar Crawl for Scoliosis was initially inspired by the Ithaca College tradition of "Beer Golf." The
first one in 2004 had about 40 people in attendance, and I had t-shirts made for everyone to wear
that night. The proceeds from the t-shirt sales were sent to the National Scoliosis Foundation. It
then turned into an annual and more official event, growing in size each year. Over 300 people
attended the 5th bar crawl in 2008.
Scoliosis research is important to me because it played a large role in my high school years. I was
diagnosed with scoliosis in the spring of 1995 at age 14, when x-rays revealed I had two 38-
degree curves in my back. I then entered the spinal clinic at Children's Hospital in Boston and was
instructed to wear a back brace for 18 hours a day to correct the curvature. Despite my diligence
through four years of bracing and physical therapy, the brace failed to correct the curves and
instead made them worse; by age 17 I progressed to 50-degrees, in which surgery became
mandatory. I left the brace at home upon starting college in 1998, with the intention of a spinal
fusion at the end of my freshman year.
May 18, 1999 was the date of my spinal fusion, which was done by Dr. John Emans of Children's
Hospital in Boston. The curves were reduced to just 4- degrees. The two 18"titanium rods allowed
me to instantly grow from 5'1" to 5'3". Better research on bracing could have prevented my 4 years
in a brace, or it could have eliminated the operation altogether. Those with scoliosis usually are
faced with one or the other (brace or surgery) and I had to go through both.
Others choose to fund raise for their charities of choice through organized races or walks. My
personal method of fund raising is gathering my friends and family together for one night out in my
hometown of Boston. Since I now reside in Austin, Texas it is an easy way to visit with everyone at
once on a set date annually. The crawl is typically the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
People have traveled from as far away as California, Florida, and Texas to be at the event in
Boston. In May 2008 I launched an Austin edition of the event, which benefited both the NSF and
the Scoliosis Research Society. That crawl equally drew in friends and family from Boston.
According to the NSF website, all funds raised will be "providing the financial support needed to
continue our efforts to minimize the effects of abnormal spinal curvatures. Together, we can
continue to truly make a difference in people’s lives, and perhaps change the course of scoliosis
history."
first one in 2004 had about 40 people in attendance, and I had t-shirts made for everyone to wear
that night. The proceeds from the t-shirt sales were sent to the National Scoliosis Foundation. It
then turned into an annual and more official event, growing in size each year. Over 300 people
attended the 5th bar crawl in 2008.
Scoliosis research is important to me because it played a large role in my high school years. I was
diagnosed with scoliosis in the spring of 1995 at age 14, when x-rays revealed I had two 38-
degree curves in my back. I then entered the spinal clinic at Children's Hospital in Boston and was
instructed to wear a back brace for 18 hours a day to correct the curvature. Despite my diligence
through four years of bracing and physical therapy, the brace failed to correct the curves and
instead made them worse; by age 17 I progressed to 50-degrees, in which surgery became
mandatory. I left the brace at home upon starting college in 1998, with the intention of a spinal
fusion at the end of my freshman year.
May 18, 1999 was the date of my spinal fusion, which was done by Dr. John Emans of Children's
Hospital in Boston. The curves were reduced to just 4- degrees. The two 18"titanium rods allowed
me to instantly grow from 5'1" to 5'3". Better research on bracing could have prevented my 4 years
in a brace, or it could have eliminated the operation altogether. Those with scoliosis usually are
faced with one or the other (brace or surgery) and I had to go through both.
Others choose to fund raise for their charities of choice through organized races or walks. My
personal method of fund raising is gathering my friends and family together for one night out in my
hometown of Boston. Since I now reside in Austin, Texas it is an easy way to visit with everyone at
once on a set date annually. The crawl is typically the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
People have traveled from as far away as California, Florida, and Texas to be at the event in
Boston. In May 2008 I launched an Austin edition of the event, which benefited both the NSF and
the Scoliosis Research Society. That crawl equally drew in friends and family from Boston.
According to the NSF website, all funds raised will be "providing the financial support needed to
continue our efforts to minimize the effects of abnormal spinal curvatures. Together, we can
continue to truly make a difference in people’s lives, and perhaps change the course of scoliosis
history."
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Why a bar crawl?
Pre-operative x-ray, May 2009
| Myself alongside Joe O'Brien, President of the NSF, and his wife Kathie |