By Simona Shemer - December 7, 2021
Twelve years ago, Moran Barashi was a canine handler in the Israeli Air Force — training dogs to help during patrols — when she was in a car accident that flipped her jeep at the Palamachim base. Barashi woke up in the hospital, with no memory of the accident, but the repercussions were severe. She had a neurological injury in her neck that caused tics and pain ran continuously throughout her body.
The tics were frequent and disruptive to everyday life and Barashi began receiving botox injunctions to paralyze her muscles so the visibility of the tics would be weakened. While the injections helped, they also created other problems. Even years later, the injury continued to pose a challenge for the Hadassah College industrial design student and veterinarian.
“I had a very hard time holding my head up,” Barashi tells NoCamels. “I have a lot of muscles that are paralyzed from all the shots. It makes my daily life difficult and affects my whole body.”
While she is supposed to wear a brace around her neck all day long, existing solutions make her itchy, sweaty, uncomfortable, and cut off her air. The plastic smells after prolonged wear, she says. The neck brace has also been too ugly, hard, and plain for the self-proclaimed fashionista. “I wanted everyone to look at me because of my clothing, not my neck,” she explains.
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