Athletes get free check ups

BOISE -- The 2008 Special Olympics Winter Invitational Games is in full swing.

Believe it or not, many of the Special Olympics athletes that visit from other nations have never had a physical checkup.

But volunteer doctors, nurses and medical students from around the world are working to change that with a program called “Healthy Athletes.”

The goal for “Healthy Athlete” volunteers is to improve the health and athletic skill of these Special Olympics champions.

They are literally changing lives - one athlete at a time.

Dr. Jack Zarybnisky, or Dr. Z as he is affectionately known, is an optometrist who has volunteered his time and money to travel to Shanghai and Mexico City to help the athletes see better.

Dr. Z and other doctors who volunteer for the Opening Eyes program use state-of-the-art medical devices to test for vision impairment and disease.

He met with one athlete this week who has dealt with cataracts her entire life.

“One young athlete, she told us that she had never ever seen a doctor in her entire life,” said Dr. Z.  

Depending on the prescription, medical volunteers can make certain types of glasses at the Opening Eyes screening.  And much to their delight, every athlete gets a free designer pair of sunglasses to help protect their eyes from harmful ultraviolet rays.

In addition to vision tests, medical volunteers can check for hearing loss in athletes.

Dr. Mel Miller is the clinical director for the Idaho Healthy Hearing program.  He says hearing loss goes largely undetected in Special Olympics athletes because people just assume it is part of their intellectual disability.

“Eighty percent of those we identify with hearing loss have medically correctable hearing loss.  And if we can get them to the doctors, we can take care of the hearing loss,” said Dr. Miller. 

Dr. Miller says it’s not uncommon to see smiles and tears of joy between coaches and athletes because communication barriers are finally broken down.

“The coaches or the organizations write, they've just blossomed.  They can't stop them talking now,” said Miller. 

Both Dr. Miller and Dr. Z agree that it's the volunteers who make Healthy Athletes possible.

They are both looking forward to the World Winter Games in 2009.

“The smile on their face makes it well worth the day,” said Dr. Z.

Healthy Athletes also plays a role in worldwide medical research.

According to Dr. Z, the Centers for Disease Control will sometimes offer to pay for medical equipment in order for Healthy Athletes volunteers to research certain diseases in different countries.