Fourty victims of spinal injuries who were admitted to the hospital as spinal patients will be recipients of tailor-made wheelchairs and medical supplies after they completed rehabilitation.

The donation comes courtesy of the ongoing assistance of New Zealand's Altus Resource Trust. The New Zealand organisation is working with Samoa Spinal Network to locate spinal patients, who have been discharged from the hospital and now have permanent spinal injuries, which are being treated at home.

In an interview with the Samoa Observer on Monday, a member of the Samoa Spinal Network (SSN), Fata Chris explained that wheelchairs and medical supplies will be provided after the first process of consulting with families and patients to encourage them to undergo a  rehabilitation program is undertaken. 

"These patients are specifically those who are confirmed to not have the ability to walk anymore but we don't just give them the supplies and wheelchairs. We encourage them first for rehabilitation programs before the supplies are handed to them and that's what we did today," he said.

"Once a patient is declared from the hospital as a spinal patient, that's when we step in to assist them and those are the kind of patients that are included under this program.

"There are different kinds of spinal injuries. Some are lower spinal while some are higher and the designs of the wheelchairs are also dependent on the level of the spinal injury of a patient that's why they're expensive."

The cost of a tailor-made wheelchair in New Zealand is over NZD$30,000 with 40 brought into Samoa and will be given away following a spinal patient's completion of his or her rehab program.

The official handing over of the 40 wheelchairs and medical supplies from the Altus to SSN was held on Tuesday before the team spread out to 10 families.

There was one patient from each village such as Vaitoloa, Magiagi, Moamoa and three others. More patients will be visited throughout the week including one child and victim of domestic violence who is currently with the Samoa Victim Support Group.

The members of the Altus Trust, who are in Samoa for the whole program including rehabilitation, include registered nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and wheelchair technicians.