TM
About C-Rod Technologies
& why I said YES to working with them
Just like you, I’m pretty sensitive to the idea of people selfishly making money from brain injury survivors when the reason behind their product or service is purely taking advantage of our misfortune as people who are trying to recover from a terrible injury. Every now and then a company will get in touch with me and ask me to promote their business. The majority of the time they will be promoting a supplement, but as I’m not a Doctor or a Pharmacist I never do this because I don’t know how their product would affect the medications that individuals are already taking. That doesn’t fit well with me, so I politely decline.
I like therapy tools because they empower people who want to take a proactive approach to their recovery & they don't impact their current medications.
For me to work with a brand their values need to match mine:
The first priority must be the brain injury survivors
and it's aim
must be to
benefit their recovery journey
Both the founders of C-Rod Technologies have very genuine reasons for bringing their product to the market, and it’s got nothing to do with making money. Yes to be able to cover their costs would be great, but this is about making a real difference the the lives of others……
Let me introduce you to them:
Dr. Gerald S. Komarnicky - Optometrist
Having completed his university degrees in Physics, Visual Science and Optometry (yes that’s 3 degrees!) he quickly realised that other eye doctors who were trained in Oculomotor Dysfunction (OMD), but not all were testing for OMD in their clinics. And even fewer were offering OMD therapies! Through his training he also knew that OMD was common with concussion (or brain injury as I should say) but they was a lack of eye doctors who were testing for it and offering rehabilitation therapy. As he knew that this was a quick and accurate way to diagnose a concussion this alone surprised him and was clearly a problem.
However, many general practitioners, physical therapists and sports coaches were still trying to use a crude method to diagnose concussions when their clients had just sustained a head injury which did at least acknowledge that vision could be a key indicator. They were doing their best in the circumstances and in some cases they were able to conclude that the individual needed more specialised medical help urgently.
Having completed his university degrees in Physics, Visual Science and Optometry (yes that’s 3 degrees!) he quickly realised that many other eye doctors hadn’t been trained in Oculomotor Dysfunction. As he knew that this was a quick and accurate way to diagnose a concussion this alone surprised him and was clearly a problem.
However, many general practitioners, physical therapists and sports coaches were still trying to use a crude method to diagnose concussions when their clients had just sustained a head injury which did at least acknowledge that vision could be a key indicator. They were doing their best in the circumstances and in some cases they were able to conclude that the individual needed more specialised medical help urgently.
The technique many employ is holding up two fingers and asking the individual to look at one finger then at the other. This happens a lot in sports because you’re outside and have limited suitable equipment with you. (Remember this isn’t the opticians office so the environment isn’t ideal. But they’re doing the best they can with what they’ve got.)
So what's wrong with this method?
The short answer is : There’s too many variables, so the results are never accurate enough.
The distance between your fingers is impossible to keep exactly the same as there’s too many plains in which they can differ:
Don't worry I'm not going to bore you with geometry
I couldn't explain it even if I wanted to. All I'm going to say is that to get your fingers perfectly aligned it's harder than trying to hang a picture straight on a wobbly wall.
But I am going to remind you that this is why The C-Rod
makes such a difference
This realisation came to Dr. Gerald S. Komarnicky way back in 1982…….
But how come we are only hearing about it now? I hear you ask.
Well actually the answer is pretty mundane……. life happened.
As a practising Doctor he was, and still is, committed to his patients. Alongside this he set up a practice, married and started a family (which the parents alongst us will know then means there is no such thing as spare time any more!) Therefore setting up a business, developing and marketing a product just wasn’t something that he could take on with his other commitments. Equally he didn’t want to just hire a marketing company because he didn’t want the sentiment to get diluted and for it to just become about making profit for somebody.
Then he met Ken. F. Williams, who not only has vast experience in sales and marketing, but his life long interest for improving concussion diagnosis quickly was exactly what Dr Komarnicky needed…..
I'm going to let him explain his story to you in his own words.
Ken. F. Williams explains why bringing the C-Rod to the people is so important to him:
The first time I heard the word “Concussion”, was when I was only 14. My best friend, school classmate and hockey buddy Glenn Allan Cunningham had a severe blow to his head after missing a vault during our Grade 8 high-school gym class. There was no concussion protocol or any manner in which he could be assessed for a concussion so of course, Glenn went back to playing sports and the next several hockey games, not knowing that he had received a severe concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury.
Two weeks later, after the usual Friday night sleepover at my house where Glenn seemed perfectly okay, we went to our regular All-Star hockey team’s 6 AM Saturday morning practice. Halfway through the practice Glenn was taken from the ice by his father (who was the team manager). I looked at Glenn who was being led by the arm as he and his dad walked around the rink toward the dressing room. Glenn looked white as a ghost and disoriented, he gave me a blank stare as he walked behind my net. I just happened to be at that end of the ice as I was the team goaltender.
The first time I heard the word “Concussion”, was when I was only 14. My best friend, school classmate and hockey buddy Glenn Allan Cunningham had a severe blow to his head after missing a vault during our Grade 8 high-school gym class. There was no concussion protocol or any manner in which he could be assessed for a concussion so of course, Glenn went back to playing sports and the next several hockey games, not knowing that he had received a severe concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury.
Two weeks later, after the usual Friday night sleepover at my house where Glenn seemed perfectly okay, we went to our regular All-Star hockey team’s 6 AM Saturday morning practice. Halfway through the practice Glenn was taken from the ice by his father (who was the team manager). I looked at Glenn who was being led by the arm as he and his dad walked around the rink toward the dressing room. Glenn looked white as a ghost and disoriented, he gave me a blank stare as he walked behind my net. I just happened to be at that end of the ice as I was the team goaltender.
"As long as I live, I will never forget the look on Glenn’s face.
This would be the last time I would see my best friend."
Glenn was rushed to nearby Lions Gate Hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage. Surgery soon followed and then just a couple of days later, on his 14th birthday, February 19th, 1965 Glenn died.
The hole in my heart was devastating and life changing. I am now 69 and a day has yet to pass that I have not thought of Glenn.
"Each year on his birthday I think,
what if there had been proper concussion protocol and recovery processes or a concussion assessment device?"
My First Concussion:
I was just 16, it was the Spring of 1967. That night, during a Juvenile level hockey playoff game for the Greater Vancouver Championship I experienced my first of several concussions.
My First Concussion:
I was just 16, it was the Spring of 1967. That night, during a Juvenile level hockey playoff game for the Greater Vancouver Championship I experienced my first of several concussions. As usual I was in goal. It was late in the third period when I was hit full strength on the top of my head by the stick of a player on the opposition team like he was chopping wood. I was focused on a shot from the other side of the ice and never saw it coming.
"I was later told that I stopped two shots before I blacked out and fell unconscious to the ice. "
The coach and the manager carried me off the ice on a stretcher and took me to the team dressing room where I eventually regained consciousness. I fell asleep during the two-hour bus ride home and told my mother what happened. My mother had some nursing training and she recalled that concussion patients should be kept awake for several hours.
As usual I was in goal. It was late in the third period when I was hit full strength on the top of my head by the stick of a player on the opposition team like he was chopping wood. I was focused on a shot from the other side of the ice and never saw it coming.
"I was later told that I stopped two shots before I blacked out and fell unconscious to the ice. "
The coach and the manager carried me off the ice on a stretcher and took me to the team dressing room where I eventually regained consciousness. I fell asleep during the two-hour bus ride home and told my mother what happened. My mother had some nursing training and she recalled that concussion patients should be kept awake for several hours.
In the 1960s the concussion protocol was, shall we say, rather weak and consisted of making certain that the concussion patient was woken every 15 – 20 minutes for 24 hours following the injury. After that it was back to play. Two days later I was back on the ice for the next game.
The effects of my first concussion were evident rather quickly as my marks in school suffered, my dyslexia and my ability to spell, to do math and to retain or comprehend anything that I read all became overwhelming. I experienced frequent bouts of severe depression and anxiety. Another effect of the concussion was how it affected my eyesight and my developing shortsightedness. Despite these difficulties, I managed to go on to be an accomplished goaltender and be invited to the 1972 NHL Vancouver Canucks Training Camp. It was at that level that my newly developed shortsightedness caught up to me and my hopes of a carrier as a professional goaltender in the NHL were over.
After over 20 years away from hockey and thanks to new soft contact lenses that I was fitted with at the age of 45, I went back to playing goal for several local 35 and over hockey teams and now in my 70th year I still play in that same league today.
"Several concussions later and still suffering from the life-long effects of mTBI, in 2017, I would meet an optometrist, Dr. Gerald Komarnicky during a game of golf."
After establishing a trusting relationship, Gerry introduced me to the C-Rod, showed me how it worked and explained to me why the C-Rod was so effective and how simple the C-Rod was to use. Dr. Komarnicky then asked if I would be interested in partnering with him to bring the C-Rod to market. With my personal and nearly lifelong experience with concussions and my own TBI, my answer was an unequivocal and immediate, YES!!!
Of course, now, I can’t help but think back to my childhood, to my friend Glenn and to myself and wonder what if the C-Rod were available to us back then and how it could have helped both of us. What would have happened if the schoolteacher or team trainer or coach had a C-Rod and what if Glenn or I had been properly diagnosed using the C-Rod right there at the time of injury? Would Glenn have been taken to the hospital right away with an early TBI diagnosis and in time to save his life and would I have had the chance to receive the proper recovery treatment the C-Rod provides?? Would my life have been less of a struggle if I had a C-Rod in the 1960s and since then??? The only answer I can think of is YES!!!
So I think you'll agree that C-Rod Technologies
match my values perfectly
Drop the mic
