After reading a small part of Paul Erway’s 50 Abilities, Unlimited Possibilities — Racing to the Final Finish Line: From Salt Lake City to the Mountains of Montana, I learned more about wheelchair users’ experiences in certain situations from maneuvering on different types of terrain to paying to park. In 2013, Erway and two friends set out to achieve a goal of completing 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 weeks. I read the chapters dedicated to their Colorado and Idaho races for this assignment.
His 25th marathon took place in Aspen,
Colorado where he learned that 20% of the race would take place on a dirt trail
and about a block would be cobblestone. The course also consisted of multiple
90-degree turns and steep downhill slopes. Initially, I thought the slopes
would be beneficial to him and while they were at times, they also made it
difficult for him to make the sharp turns ahead. While there were lines in the
middle of the trail to indicate the sharp turns, Erway forgot what they were
for and had to hold one of his wheels tightly so he wouldn’t crash. The movement
was so abrupt it resulted in him getting a flat tire. He was able to replace it with a spare and complete the race.
In the Behind-the-Scenes section of this chapter, he told
us about how he came back to the rental car to find that he received a ticket
for parking overnight without paying at the meter. He expressed that the meter
is out of reach for wheelchair users so he would not have been able to pay
anyway. Had he called the police, he wouldn’t have had to pay to park, but he was
in a rush at that time. This is an issue I never thought of before reading his
book and I feel like more people should be made aware of the importance of
height adjustments for things like counter-tops, light switches, appliances,
etc. It would even be beneficial for parking meters to have two points of accessibility:
one about three feet from the ground and one at regular height. I mean come on,
who wants to have to call 9-1-1 just to park overnight?
Next, I read the chapter for his 27th marathon
in Pocatello, Idaho. One of his friends, Grant Berthiaume, traveled to the race
by airplane and was displeased to find that his wheelchair was damaged by the
airline employees. His steering was damaged and made it much more difficult to
complete the race. He didn’t have tools on hand to fix it, so he had to compete
at a slower pace, reach further onto the steering bar for control, and take up
the entire trail for the duration of the race.
In the Behind-the-Scenes section, Erway explains that the
wheelchair division of the Pocatello marathon was previously removed because of
safety issues regarding wheelchair and hand cycle users, a nearby
ravine and, an Interstate. Rather than making further accommodations and safety
measures to ensure inclusion for these racers, organizers decided to remove the
division entirely. Fortunately, Tom McCurdy, the wheelchair division coordinator,
fought for the city to resolve this issue and he was successful after two
years. The marathon now requires a pre-racecourse tour for all first-time
racers and a bright front light for the beginning of the race as it starts just
before dawn.
Now that I’ve read these chapters, I understand more
about the hardships wheelchair users face daily. They constantly face issues
with terrain, accessibility, inconsiderate airline employees, and inclusion but
those are only a few problems to name. As a future OT practitioner, I will work
hard to reduce these issues in any way I can whether it’s day-to-day
communication or a big project to accomplish the necessary improvement for the
people of this community.
Reference
Erway,
P. (2019). 50 abilities, unlimited possibilities - Racing to the final finish
line: From Salt Lake City to the mountains of Montana. Silver Tree Communications, LLC.
Great post Amberlee! The situation regarding the parking meter is something I have also never thought of before. I wonder what other necessary, public items are out of reach for wheelchair users. I have noticed that many parking meters around Memphis require you to scan a QR code. Hopefully, this addresses some of the accessibility issues.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I was disappointed to read about the chair damaged by the airline employees. I wonder if wheelchair have some form of insurance when things like this happen.
Lastly, I found it encouraging that the wheelchair race was brought back despite the difficulties. I think a lot of businesses and other events disregard those with special considerations because they would rather not put forth the extra effort for planning.