POC, Intercare conduct free chiropractic care

POC, Intercare conduct free chiropractic care

MANILA, Philippines.  At least two dozen athletes from Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled (PhilSPADA) and medalists from the 28th Southeast Asian Games received free chiropractic care from students from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Australia and the International Medical University (IMU) Malaysia during a medical mission held at the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) Gym at the Philippine Sports Commission in Pasig City on August 13.

The medical mission is part of the two-week International Clinical Externship Program spearheaded by Intercare Chiropractic Center.  Supervised by Intercare clinicians and staff, the students set up 11 treatment beds and took turns in evaluating national and differently-abled athletes at the POC Gym.

Among the recipients of the free treatment was Eric Cray, Southeast Asia’s fastest man and currently ranked 7th in the world for 400m hurdles.  He was evaluated by Lucy Britnell of RMIT who said that the experience of treating a gold medalist and qualifier for the 2016 Olympics is “pretty cool.”

Lucy Britnell of RMIT evaluating Eric Cray, 28th SEA Games 400m hurdles gold medalist.

Wong Zi Ling (Isabelle) of IMU treated Ryan Bigyan, athletics silver medalist in the recently-concluded SEA Games.  “He had problems on his left achilles,” Isabelle said, “It was tight and so was his hamstring. It was my first time to treat a national athlete and my mind went around thinking what other problems he might have.”

IMU student Wong Zi Ling evaluating SEA Games athletics silver medalist Ryan Bigyan.

For his part, RMIT student Dylan Grady evaluated Nikko Huelgas, triathlon gold medalist in the 28th SEA Games.  “He had ankle issue and I treated his ankle as well as his hip and spine. He said he liked it and felt good after that,” Dylan recounted.

Dylan Grady of RMIT treating Nikko Huelgas, SEA Games triathlon gold medalist.

Andrew Gladigau of RMIT had a chance to treat athletics paralympian Daisy Patulagan. “I’ve never seen anybody in Australia who had a case like Daisy. I couldn’t do all the assessments that we would typically do to somebody on normal conditions so the areas were more concentrated and focused.    It was quite a good experience treating people who had never seen a chiropractor before.  I somehow helped them connect with their bodies and changed their world probably a million times,” said Andrew.

RMIT’s Andrew Gladigau checking Daisy Patulagan.

Later during the day, representatives from each group paid a courtesy call to POC President, Hon. Jose Cojuangco, Jr.  RMIT University was represented by Dylan Grady, Annie Wilmot, and Lucinda Britnell while IMU was represented by Shaun Sirenjeevi and Wong Zi Ling.

Left to right:  Annie Wilmot (RMIT), Wong Zi Ling (IMU), Shaun Sirenjeevi (IMU), POC President Jose Cojuangco Jr., Intercare CEO Dr. Martin Camara, Dylan Grady (RMIT), Lucy Britnell (RMIT).

While in the POC Chairman’s office, the students had a chance to talk about their experiences in the first two days of the mission during the POC’s weekly radio program on DZSR Sports Radio.  The group particularly shared how meaningful it was for them to visit and treat the people at Hospicio de San Jose (an orphanage and center for people-in-crisis in Manila), those people living in a small community in Naic, Cavite, and the differently-abled athletes of the Philippines.

Shaun Sirenjeevi of IMU during a sports radio interview.

The 20 students from RMIT and IMU will be in the country visiting communities and institutions until August 21. They will conduct the medical missions to areas where residents may have never experienced the benefits of chiropractic.

Intercare Chiropractic Center is the sports science partner of the Philippine Olympic Committee.