A Letter From an Osteopathy Patient

Osteopathy Patient Becomes Osteopathy Student!

This letter was handed in to National Academy of Osteopathy president; Dr Shahin Pourgol by an osteopathy patient who after a long time of suffering from low back pain was healed through osteopathic treatments. She fell in love with manual osteopathy and decided to enrol in the Diploma in Osteopathic Manual Practice program of NAO.

Dear Dr. Pourgol,

I am including this letter with my application to explain why I am determined to become an excellent osteopath and to pass osteopathy on as the “gift of healing” that it has been for me.

Exactly five years ago I had a “simple” accident that changed my life………..within a few weeks I lost almost all my mobility………………….….continued going to chiropractor, massages, and acupuncture,……………..…….I was given injections right into my back……………..…..tried the strongest pain medications………………… NOTHING even made the smallest difference…………………… I had no life other than a painful experience, crying from horrific pain every day, unable to sleep at night, until someone mentioned to me I should see an osteopath. 

I had no idea what osteopathy was but immediately grabbed the straw and tried to find an osteopath in London, Ontario. They all had wait lists of one to three (!) years, which crushed me in my desperation. Unwilling to give up, I continued my search and found a student of osteopathy who took me as her patient and the day after the first session a miracle happened. I felt an ever so slight relief of pain. I went to see her two to three times per week and slowly regained mobility, my pain became manageable and my symptoms improved and later disappeared…………………………I am not exaggerating when I say that I owe my life to this amazing osteopath.

Since December I have not seen my osteopath again……………………I am grateful for a normal, fully functional, strong back and body, with only small traces of pain in particularly strenuous situations. I can do heavy lifting and other things just as well as I could before my accident five years ago but have a new appreciation for the gift of mobility and freedom from pain.

The one single regret I have been having throughout my life was that I did not follow my dream and passion to pursue a career in the medical field……………………………now that I am healthy and strong again, after the humbling experience of suffering from physical pain for so long, I want to finally follow my passion and help people with what has resulted in a miracle for me: osteopathy………………………

With kindest regards,

Christina Vonn