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Pressure chamber is goal of fundraiser

Selama Grotto aims to buy a hyperbaric chamber to aid those with cerebral palsy and other ills.

By JON WILSON
Published December 14, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Oxygen-blasting hyperbaric chambers, widely known for treating a condition called the bends, which can afflict deep-sea divers, also can relieve symptoms of such ailments as cerebral palsy.

To help youngsters with neurological damage and other health problems, Selama Grotto plans to buy one of the $32,000 devices and install it at Nina Harris Exceptional Student Education Center.

The fraternal organization is holding a fundraiser Thursday at 4th Street Cigars and Martini Bar, 2900 Fourth St. N. It starts at 7 p.m. and costs $5. Proceeds, including a percentage of bar sales, will be used to help buy the $32,000 chamber.

Dwight Champagne, a rhythm-and-blues musician, will entertain starting at 8:30 p.m., and there will be a chance to win a $200 humidor.

The organization bought its first chamber two years ago and it has been in constant use, said Selama Grotto member Hardy Bryan.

Mark Fowler, the Grotto monarch, said he has seen a youngster with cerebral palsy who was usually fed by machine be able to eat with a spoon after chamber treatment.

In another case, Fowler said his 87-year-old stepfather experienced a stroke that paralyzed him on his right side, but after receiving chamber treatment was able to walk without using a cane.

Patients get inside the machine, which "looks like a mummy made from canvas and clear plastic," Bryan said.

"It's pressurized like a soda can," Fowler said.

The chamber compresses air to greater-than-normal pressure, forcing it into a patient's body. Treatment expectations include improved cognitive ability, vision, hearing and speech.

The pressure enriches the oxygen's blood supply to the brain, activating dormant blood cells. The benefits are temporary and need to be repeated periodically.

For information about the fundraiser or about hyperbaric chambers, call Fowler at (727) 866-9047.

[Last modified December 14, 2005, 00:14:15]