KCOM doc delivers post-9.11 treatments at Ground Zero

David Abend, D.O., ’89

David Abend, D.O., ’89, Oradell, N.J., will receive the Humanitarian Service Award from the American Red Cross for treating workers for their back and neck discomfort while working at the Staten Island Landfill in the wake of 9.11. Dr. Abend worked four to five hours, two days a week for about six months at the site, donating his skill and time to those workers from a variety of organizations who were sifting through rubble and experiencing a great deal of stress. He also was asked to provide osteopathic manipulative treatment at a family restaurant called “Nino’s,” about a block from Ground Zero, where workers could get a meal any time of day from volunteer staff. Says Dr. Abend, “After my family medicine office hours in Emerson, N.J., on any Saturday, I brought a portable osteopathic treatment table – the same I used when former President Nixon visited me for back pain in 1993 – to the restaurant, set it up in a corner there and treated hundreds of people before, during, or after their meals/shift. “I gained a whole new respect and admiration for how New Yorkers came together to help one another. I also saw the unique power of touch and healing that I could offer and appreciated the medical training I received from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine that I learned throughout my medical school and post-graduate medical training years. I have a new found pride in my role as an osteopathic physician providing primary care and osteopathic manipulation for neck and back pain for my patients.” For some more information, go to www.handsondo.com.