Welcome to the ESCIP Community!

Jonathan Sigworth - the youngest of three brothers - received a spinal cord injury at age 19 while studying in northern India in February 2006.  Though the injury left him paralyzed in his hands and below his arms, Jonathan and his family continue to coordinate with staff at India’s Spinal Injuries Center in Delhi  - where Jonathan received treatment - in order to initiate efforts that support SCI persons who are in the process of rehabilitation and seeking independence.  ESCIP is the unofficial name for these efforts.

More Than Walking, an award-winning short documentary

“Perhaps not all of us will walk again. But that’s okay, because our goal is something more than walking...” --Jon Sigworth

See the trailer, watch the film online, request a DVD

On the DVD, soundtracks are available in English and Hindi.  Subtitles are now available in Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Italian, Spanish, German, Georgian...and more are coming!

Jonathan Sigworth, a 19-year-old American student, fell from a 70 ft. cliff in northern India in 2006 and became a quadriplegic.  Three years later, to encourage his Indian peers, Jonathan made this short film telling his story and the stories of four of his quadriplegic friends.  Krishnan, 46, lives in a rehab center in Pune; Navin, 38, is starting a school for street children.  Rahul, 23, was defending his uncle from a drunk neighbor when he was injured; Riya, 14, had a diving accident at a swim meet.  More than Walking is a film about tragedies and opportunities, wheelchair rugby and new beginnings; it shows that out of the nightmare of an accident can come a gift of life.

ESCIP in India - February and March, 2010

Jonathan, his mom Vicky and friend George Thorman return to India to distribute More than Walking and spread its vision.  About half of our time will be spent in New Delhi.  Jon and I will be helping with SCI rehabilitation and wheelchair recreation at the Indian Spinal Injuries Center.  We will also visit often with two of the quadriplegics profiled in Jon’s film (Riya and Rahul) to follow up on their rehabilitation and lives in general.  We hope to continue to document their stories and gather more footage potentially to be added to the film. 

Jon and Riya, on the terrace of Riya’s house

The remainder of the six weeks is broken into short (3- to 4-day) trips to a variety of cities throughout the country.  In these cities, Jon, Vicky, and a handful of other friends will be speaking a SCI conferences, church meetings, hospitals, schools, workshops, etc. to encourage improved SCI rehabilitation and to empower local religious and social communities to take the lead in disability advocacy.  In essence, they will be speaking up for the needs of disabled Indians and hopefully connecting people to networks and resources in order to address those needs.

Here’s a rough calendar view of the trip (not that we expect these plans to remain unchanged):

Week 1 – New Delhi

Week 2 – Varanasi and Kachua

Week 3, 4 – New Delhi

Week 5, 6 – Ahmedabad, Junagadh, Mumbai, Hubli, Bangalore, and Visakhapatnam

George Thorman is chronicling the trip on our Travel Blog.