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Chester County Press

Fundraiser to support Harness House

03/07/2016 04:01PM ● By Steven Hoffman

On Thursday, March 3, an innovative, free-standing harness system was installed in Marie Beattie’s home in New London Township to help her daughter, Corey, stand, walk, and live a more independent life as she rehabilitates following a life-altering car accident in October of 2010.

Corey, now 23, has been making tremendous strides working with researchers at the Go Baby Go program at the University of Delaware. One of the program’s latest initiatives is a café set up at the University of Delaware STAR Campus where survivors of traumatic brain injuries utilize a harness system to work serving customers. The harness system allows them to move and work with confidence knowing that they won’t lose their balance and fall. The harness system also incorporates rehabilitative physical therapy into the work. Corey is the first local traumatic brain injury survivor to partner with Go Baby Go on a Harness House, becoming a part of a cutting-edge research study for the next six months. The harness system was developed by University of Delaware professor Dr. Cole Galloway and his team of researchers.

Marie Beattie is hopeful that the harness system will continue to help advance her daughter’s recovery—and to one day allow Corey to realize her dream of becoming a chef.

The research study could help many other people who are living with traumatic brain injuries. There are approximately 5.3 million people currently living with disabilities that are in some way related to traumatic brain injuries that they suffered. March is Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Month, and a local business, Not Your Average Joe’s, has named the Go Baby Go Harness House as a beneficiary. The restaurant, which is located at 561 Glen Eagle Square in Glen Mills, will donate 15 percent of the total purchase, excluding alcohol, tax, and gratuity, for anyone who names the Harness House as the cause for the month. The offer is valid each Tuesday in March—the upcoming dates are March 8, 15, 22 and 29.

“This fundraiser is going to help pay for the research project,” Marie Beattie said, explaining that the research gathered during the study will help many others who suffer from traumatic brain injuries.