I was shocked to discover that when you have a disability and end up in a wheelchair you become a second class citizen. We were on holiday a week ago visiting family in Christchurch, New Zealand and due to my illness, I was compelled to use a wheelchair to get around. The wheelchair I was borrowing was self propelled and did not have breaks that a person pushing you could access. This made moving around challenging.
The Shopping Centre we were wondering around had a section where the floor sloped and maneuvering a wheelchair down this section difficult. I did not know how to slow the wheelchair down myself as I have never had to use a wheelchair for extended periods of time. My husband was forced to hold the wheelchair and use his own strength to slow us down.
The Centre was 2 stories and had various points where you could access the second floor. However, there were only 2 points that a wheelchair could access the second floor. A lift at the far end of the Centre or the travelator in the centre of building. We had had enough of a problem trying to maneuver the wheelchair down the sloped section of the Centre. The travelator was a bridge to far. We were not brave enough to try. So once we had walked / rolled though the second floor, we then had to return to the far end to access the lift. We then had the challenge of getting the wheelchair back up the sloped section of the Centre.
There were also a number of shops that I was unable to access as their merchandise shelving was so close together that there was no room for a wheelchair to maneuver.
I also found people did not notice you and some people almost walked into me as I was no longer at eye level.
I was really saddened by this and feel for all my fellow chronic illness warriors who have no choice but to use a wheelchair all the time.
To all my able bodied friends, be thankful you aren’t a second class citizen.
No comments:
Post a Comment