From Emma Hay, a 2nd year student at RMIT University, Melbourne.

My Chiropractic Story

There was a 76 year-old man, who, for 10 years, had suffered the devastating effects of dementia, whilst disguising it from his family. Some days, he was in a great state of mind - he could remember everything about everyone. Other days, through, he would forget where he was, constantly mix up the names of his grandchildren, and even forget the name of his wife of 55 years.

After many years of persuasion, this man's son and granddaughter convinced him to go to their chiropractor. This was the beginning of 2001. It only took 1 visit to notice a marked difference in his life and attitude towards it. The next day, the man continually spoke of the chiropractor - he talked more that day than he had for the last week!! (His wife also talked all day, but that was nothing out of the ordinary!!).

He went along to about 5 visits, but then was making excuses - it was too far, he was too tired, it cost too much. Consequently, his health continued in a downward spiral; his memory became worse and he gradually become more and more difficult to look after. October 2001 saw this man contract pneumonia, and after a short fight, he succumbed to the illness 11th November.

Now, this man was my poppa; his wife, my nanna; his son , my dad and his granddaughter, me. Just one visit to Dr Krishna Keswani. One visit. Imagine if he had been convinced and educated on the benefits of chiropractic 10 years ago, before the dementia set in. Poppa almost certainly would have had a better quality of life. Imagine if he had been under chiropractic care since he was a child - his health could have been better still. I believe a lack of public education was the downfall in this case, and if we, as a profession, address this issue that is, public education, more people would be open to the benefits of chiropractic.

Just remember the difference one visit made for my Poppa.