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Sunday, November 8, 2009

Life in a Wheelchair


Life in a Wheelchair-It's another World

When you see a person in a wheelchair does anything register in your mind at all? Probably not, because it is a common enough sight. If anything, you might think that if not for the Grace of God, that could be you.

I came to think of people in wheelchairs from the angle of noticing when able-bodied people trampled upon the rights of the handicapped. Drivers here in Spain take some extraordinary liberties among themselves, and some of the things that they do would simply end in somebody being shot to death in certain parts of the United States. For instance, there, you would not double-park your car resulting in a blockage for someone else. If you did it without thinking and walked away, you would have second thoughts about going back to your car. Here, we do it all the time and we do not expect the other person to be angry when we have inconvenienced them to such a degree.

I have noticed how common it is for people to park in spaces reserved for the handicapped. They even park across pedestrian crossings, so the handicapped have no chance. Things came to a head on the day that I noticed a couple with a “Wales” sticker drive into the parking area of a Mercadona Supermarket and park at an angle across two parking spaces. That was bad enough, but add to that the fact that both spaces were reserved for the handicapped. That must surely take the prize for “Coldest Bastard in the Universe.”

So, I wrote a blog, the gist of which was that we should be careful to protect the rights of the handicapped before we need those same rights ourselves. I published that blog on the 11th October. On the 14th October I found myself in a wheelchair with a broken leg. I can only assume that I am to highlight the experience of life from a wheelchair, since I opened the subject. This will be the follow-through. (Ain’t life strange?)

There are a series of one-word descriptions that very accurately sum up life lived in this manner, and all but one are bad words. Such as: Boring, horrible, frustrating, demanding, challenging, depressing, sucks, and suicidal. The one word that could be considered acceptable is “utilitarian.” It does allow for you to have some sort of life on the move, but that is very small comfort.

I am not the perfect subject to speak of life in this way because my time in a wheelchair is limited to my full recovery until I can once again walk when my leg has healed. In the meantime I can get up and change to crutches. In other words, I cheat. I am a fraud. To hear from the real wheelchair bound people simply log on to “Wheelchair blogs” and you will enter a whole new world.

Frankly, I opened these pages and I became emotionally charged. It gave me pause to realize that in parallel with the “normal” world there is a society of disabled people who have to function, sometimes without the cooperation of the able-bodied to cope with everyday life.

Of course, you will find angry blogs, because they have a lot to be angry about. So many cities completely forget the handicapped in their designs. You will also find some incredibly positive thoughts, and a lot of very ordinary viewpoints. For instance, there are handicapped beauty pageants, and why not? There are also campaigns against what is called “Apartheid by Design, or lack of design.” And of course, there are the Para-Olympics.

There is also humour. In Bermuda I had a meeting with the Handicapped Association to discuss raising funds for them. I arrived at their workshop to realise I was the only person without a seat. It seems I had failed to bring my seat with me, a fact that caused great peels of laughter.

A friend of mine suggested that it is rare to see people in wheelchairs in Spain. Is that their fault, or the fault of everybody else? If the city or town makes it impossible to navigate a wheelchair, why would we expect to see someone out on their own trying to shop?

Just imagine trying to get from one end of a street to the other, or from one side of the street to the other without someone having deliberately paved the way. Sometimes, the thing that such a person needs is just within a stone’s throw and no big deal if you are able to walk. But, for the disabled it might just as well be another world away.

I honestly don’t know how a person is supposed to adjust to life in a wheelchair. I’m certain that one thing is needed to do this, and that thing is emotional strength. Handicapped people must be some of the strongest people in the world.

I want to ask you to bear in mind the next time you encounter a handicapped person on their own that that person may well have once been as able-bodied as you are. Consequently, you could find yourself in the same position in the twinkling of an eye. So, instead of passing them as though they were invisible, or just a normal person, at least say Hello! Ask whether there is anything you can do for them, and take the time to be of assistance.

If this idea spreads far and wide you might one day be grateful for it, and happy that you helped to promote it.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael