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| Ronnie
K., a U.S. veteran (1943-1946),
didn’t let a near-death accident in 1997 keep him from his love
of race cars. And since 2005, he states his life has improved “immensely”
now that he can bring his portable SmartVest®
with him on his travels. |
| Ronnie K.,
82, has worked in the racing world for decades – as a driver, a
builder/designer and a manager of race teams and auto performance
programs. In 2008 he was honored for his “unparalleled commitment and dedication
to the motorsports community.” |
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| “I
can’t speak highly enough of the machine and the treatment
it provides. It has allowed me to continue to operate
in the job I love.” |
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| In
1997, an accident at the track changed his life forever, Ronnie K.
explains: “I was working in the pit area at a racetrack at Indianapolis
Fairgrounds. A car spun out and slid into a concrete barrier. A
chunk of concrete the size of a bowling ball flew through the air
80 feet and caught me in the back. It broke six ribs and bruised
my heart and lungs. I was in an induced coma for four weeks. As
a result of the accident, I suffer from a combination of Emphysema
and Bronchiectasis.” |
| Since then,
Ronnie has been taking a slew of medications and has landed in
the hospital an average of three times a year due to pneumonia
or other related bronchial conditions. “It’s like I’ve been a magnet
for any little bug that’s floating around,” he joked. The main
problem, he said, has been his inability to loosen up and remove
mucus from his lungs, which has caused fluid buildup and subsequent
bronchial infections. |
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| To give
Ronnie some relief, one of his doctors told him about chest physiotherapy
“He said there’s a process that’s better than that, using a vibrating-type
device,” Ronnie's wife and daughter proceeded to buy different
types of vibrators, so he could try them. “You can’t imagine
all the different types of vibrators that are available,” he said.
“We tried them all. None of them produced anything worthwhile.” |
| Finally,
in 2005, a nurse heard about the SmartVest®
and told Ronnie’s doctor. They contacted Electromed, who brought
in a SmartVest® to try. “He put the vest on me, we did a treatment,
and by God, it produced good results!” Ronnie K. turned to his doctor,
who witnessed the test, and said, “I gotta have this.” And she
wrote a prescription. |
| “That
was on a Thursday, and I had my vest the following Tuesday!” Ronnie
said. An Electromed Clinical Area Manager delivered the SmartVest® to
Ronnie’s home and taught him how to operate it. “The instruction
was very thorough and easy for me to understand,” Ronnie said. |
| Since then,
Ronnie has taken four boat trips, to Alaska, the Columbia River
and the Mississippi River, in addition to his annual trips
to the Indianapolis 500. “I bring my medications and my SmartVest® with me and continue doing two 30-minutes treatments a day, one
in the morning and one at night,” he explained. |
The difference
in his life has been remarkable. “I’ve been taking the same medication
and nebulizing 3-4 times a day for 12 years now. Since I began
using the SmartVest® in
2005, I have only been hospitalized once. That was immediately
following one of my trips to Indianapolis when I had been exposed
to too many people and I got a bronchial infection.” He said that
since he started using the SmartVest® in
2005, “my status has improved immensely. I can’t speak highly enough
of the machine and the treatment it provides. It has allowed me
to continue to operate in the job I love.”  |
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