For 15 years, celebrations of International Wheelchair Day on March 1 have occurred around the world, including in Australia, Nepal, Senegal, South Africa, Bangladesh, Pakistan, United Kingdom and America. It’s a celebration of the positive impact wheelchairs have in the lives of 5.5 million adult wheelchair users in the United States and more than 130 million users worldwide.
One powerful purpose of the day is to change the mindset of those who perceive a wheelchair as a sad part of someone’s life. Because quite the opposite is true as shown in the following comments of wheelchair users:
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- “The only sad part about this vital piece of equipment for me, is where we would be without it.” AJ’s Journey.
- “I am so grateful for my wheels. They have enabled me to do so many things I couldn’t do without them. Pitying me for my chair use makes no sense.” Hannah Ensor.
- “Without my wheelchair I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere or do anything. My wheelchair has given me independence, freedom, life.” Wheels2Walking.
- “My wheelchair is like another part of my body. I love my wheelchair. My wheelchair is called Freeda and she’s not something to pity.” The World of One Room.
- “I am not bound or confined to the chair, I am empowered by it.” Michele Lee
- “My wheelchair liberates me.” Becky
- “If you took my wheelchair off me I would be disabled! My wheelchair is like my best mate; it enables me to do so much and comes to so many places with me!” Claire Lomas MBE
Misconceptions about those who use wheelchairs are also busted:
- Users have various disabilities and are not all paralyzed; leg movement doesn’t make them a fake.
- Users may be able to stand or walk short distances and use wheelchairs because walking is exhausting, painful, slow, and the risk of falling makes walking hazardous.
- Users are not wheelchair bound or confined; they get out of their wheelchairs for activities like driving, exercising, swimming, sleeping, et al.
Many concede that using a wheelchair can be limiting, but attribute that to lack of access and public attitudes that suck. As Catarina Oliveira observed, “The barrier is not the wheelchair, but the world around the wheelchair”—sidewalks, curb cuts, ramps, bollards blocking accessible paths, and parking.
Considering that the first wheelchairs were developed in Europe in the 1100’s, were common in the 1700s and 1800s, and the 1932 Jenning’s folding wheelchair invention allowed users to roll outside their homes, what excuse is there for not developing an accessible infrastructure? Imagine if cars were mass produced without highways and bridges to drive on. As Tara Moss opined, “if we made the world even half as accessible for wheelchairs as we have for cars, we’d make a far better world.”
Despite posting almost a week after International Wheelchair Day, it’s never too late to emulate the cause. Just as every day is International Wheelchair Day forWheelTipsJoe, every day is a good day to take action to make the world a more accessible place for wheelchair users.
You may also want to follow:
- Kerry Thompson. “My Wheelchair & Me!” March 1, 2023.https://kerry-thompson.com/2023/03/01/my-wheelchair-me/
- Catarina Oliveira, Küschall Ambassador. https://www.invacare.eu.com/ambassadors/catarina-oliveira
- WheelTipsJoe (Joe Russel), https://www.facebook.com/joe.russel.921.
3 replies on “International Wheelchair Day Celebration”
Enlightening
I am SO HAPPY that I kept my mother’s wheelchair! A few days ago I got a distress call from a friend IN an ambulance en route to the emergency room. He has a broken leg. He lives alone in a place with stair access only, and works in a place with stair access only. So I brought him to my wheelchair accessible house, where he is recuperating with the aid of the wheelchair.
So good that you are both willing and able to help your friend.