LAWN BOWLING/BOWLS ARTICLES

IPC WORLD CHAMPS...

BCB News!
18 June, 2004

Canada’s Berkeley and Ferguson lead way at IPC World Bowls Championships

Kitchener’s Vivian Berkeley, a B1 (totally blind) bowler and B.C.’s Iris Ferguson, a B3 bowler, led Canada at the recent IPC World Bowls Championships in Kuala Lumpur June 4th to 12th.

Berkeley, a 2002 Commonwealth Games medallist, won bronze in mixed-pairs with Ron Pelletier against B.C.’s Bob Geisbrecht and Quebec’s Heather Green. She also won a bronze medal in B1 singles.

In the B3 Mixed Pairs competition, Ferguson won gold with England’s Alan Lynne. Ferguson also won a bronze medal in B3 singles.

154 bowlers participated in the event.

Blind Lawn Bowlers Win Gold and Silver

MAB Newsletter Winter 2000 - Volume 1 Issue 1
By Irene Lambert

Not one but two MAB clients came home with medals from last summer's National Blind Lawn Bowling Championship Tournament in Vancouver. Ron Pelletier and Louis Van Volsen, members of the Quebec Blind Lawn Bowling Association (QBLBA), won the gold and silver respectively bowling in the "B1" category for players with no sight. This sets the stage for when both men compete in next summer's World Championships in Scotland as members of Canada's national team. Winning medals is nothing new for either bowler. Pelletier, who has travelled to Israel and South Africa to compete, earned the silver last year and gold the year before. A MAB client since 1976, Pelletier is also a guide dog user, piano tuner, and a respected MAB staff member, teaching adaptive computer technology and serving as a technical consultant for the Braille Production Service.

Van Volsen, who has twice been to Scotland to take part in both a Tri-Am and an invitational tournament, won the silver in '95 and the bronze last year. Losing his sight in a work accident, lawn bowling has been part of the adjustment process towards independent living. Both men should be tremendously proud of their accomplishments.

Lawn bowling is a sport of skill and accuracy that takes place in a pleasant social environment. As such, it appeals to people of all ages. Players compete in a specific category according to their degree of visual impairment. Each has his or her own sighted coach who communicates pertinent visual information, including distances and relative positions of the bowl and jack.

The Quebec Blind Lawn Bowling Association was founded and managed by the late John Carling and the late Joan MacKay in 1988, at the Westmount Lawn Bowling Club. The group moved to the Beaconsfield Club in 1990 and began sending players to the National Championships three years later. QBLBA games are scheduled one afternoon and one evening each week during the summer.

Rare Condition Strikes Fliers

‘Economy Class Syndrome’ Can Be Fatal

“Economy class syndrome” becomes dangerous when a blood clot in a deep vein breaks free and the resulting embolus travels to a pulmonary artery, blocking blood flow in the lungs. (Marco Doelling/ABCNEWS.com)

Thromosis

Q U E S T I O N :

What do you know about “economy class syndrome,” the well-documented phenomenon that occurs as a result of sitting for long periods of time on an international flight? My mom died from this last year. I know of other deaths, but how common is it and what is being done to prevent it from happening to others? — Sandra MacKay-Nicoll

A N S W E R :

Deep-vein thrombosis, or the formation of a blood clot, has been dubbed “economy class syndrome” because it results from long hours of minimal movement— an all-too-familiar experience for airline passengers jammed into the increasingly cramped quarters in the back of the plane. While no formal statistics are kept, anecdotal evidence suggests that the condition is rare and fatalities even rarer, says Dr. Russell Rayman, executive director of the Aerospace Medical Association. (Aviation medical experts estimate there are only several hundred cases a year on the more than 600 million trips passengers fly on U.S. carriers.) Which is why most passengers don’t know about the simple steps they can take to reduce their chances of suffering from blood clots and their potentially fatal complications. Travel medicine experts recommend exercise, lots of water and, in some cases, elastic wraps or some other source of support.

Maddening and Tragic

Sandra MacKay-Nicoll is convinced that if her mother had known about the condition, she would have made sure that she and the 14 blind athletes she accompanied would have taken precautions against it on their 17-hour flight from Johannesburg to New York. “It’s very maddening, it’s tragic, it’s unbelievable,” she says. Joan MacKay took a couple of steps off the Boeing 747 at JFK last August and fainted on the jetway. Seven hours later, she was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital in Queens. “When the coroner said it wasn’t her heart, we thought, well, God, what is it?” MacKay-Nicoll recalls. Her 61-year-old mother, who lived half the year in Amelia Island, Fla. and half in Montreal, was quite fit. She often walked five miles along the beach and had a treadmill in her home. She managed the Canadian blind lawn bowling team and was flying home with the team from the International Paralympic Championships when she collapsed. The coroner’s office attributed her death to pulmonary thromboembolization — the complication that results when a blood clot forms in a deep vein, breaks free and travels through the heart to an artery in the lung, where it blocks blood flow.

Stationary for 17 Hours

That was the first MacKay-Nicoll had heard about the condition and its link to long plane rides. And she’s sure her mother had never heard about it before, either. Some carriers do offer advisories. Northwest Airlines, for instance, runs an in-flight aerobics video on long-haul flights and recommends passengers get up and stretch and drink water every two hours. But South African Airways, the airline MacKay flew, does not. So she remained in her window seat in row 47 on the Boeing 747 for some 17 hours without even a trip to the restroom. South African spokeswoman Ann Gillespie says that MacKay showed no signs of distress before she collapsed after stepping off the plane. While the incident was rare, she said that a precautionary video is “worth considering.”

Not Just Economy Seats

Despite its moniker, economy class syndrome is not confined to the back of the plane. When former Vice President Dan Quayle was treated for a blood clot that reached his lungs in 1994, doctors suspected long plane rides were the source. And he wasn’t a regular in coach. Air travel is not the only — or even primary — time the blood clots can develop. They form during long periods of inactivity, which slow the blood flow. The condition also can develop, for instance, as a result of prolonged immobility due to surgery or a limb set in a cast. Usually the clots form in veins in the legs and lower abdomen, but they can develop in other parts of the body as well. The symptoms vary, from swelling to cramping. Often, they’re mistaken for something else, says Rayman. Sometimes passengers who develop clots don’t seek treatment for days after the flight— which is one reason the frequency is difficult to track. Although anyone can develop blood clots, certain people are more vulnerable, including pregnant women, people who are overweight, smokers and those with coronary artery diseases and certain blood conditions. Those with higher risks should consult their physicians before flying. Generally, the clots are absorbed into the bloodstream. If they aren’t, physicians can treat them with drugs that dissolve the clots and prevent others from forming and, occasionally, surgery. If a clot reaches the lung, emergency medical assistance is required.

Preventative Measures

Meanwhile, travel doctors recommends the following precautions for all passengers: Get up and walk about at least once an hour (a challenge, given the food carts). While seated, flex your ankles and move your feet around to stimulate blood circulation. Remain hydrated. Consider wearing support stockings or elastic wraps to keep blood from settling in the veins in your legs.