Accessibility Story

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

Owen here,

I am 59 CMT 1 and use forearm crutches and a scooter. This post is just to

share

a experience I had yesterday at a wedding my wife and I were invited to. The

bride is a dear cousin of my wife and well aware of my CMT. She assured Peg ( My

wife) that the chapel ( on a school campus ) was handicapped accessible. We

arrived a little late do to construction detours. When we found the chapel the

the parking lot had handicapped parking spaces, but they were about a block from

the chapel. We did not bring the scooter :-(. After walking the block to the

chapel I was exhausted. Then we find out there are eight stairs up into the

chapel

( No railings!) Someone came out to tell us the handicapped entrance was all

the

way around the other side of the building. I told my wife I was to tired to

walk

around the building and to just go in and I would just sit on the steps. It

just

happened there was a couple standing outside the chapel and her husband ( A very

large athletic built man) would carry me up the steps. I was hesitant. The

woman

assured me her husband was a paramedic and would have no problem and he had done

that numerous times. Well I said if he wouldn't mind..... He had me put my

arms

around his neck and he wrapped his arms around my lower back and lifted like I

was

a bag of groceries and carried me up the stairs and placed me in the entrance to

the chapel. ( A side note. I have had problems with my back for years and it

had

been a minor discomfort for the last few months. That's another whole story. But

when this picked me up my back popped and has felt great ever since.) The

chapel

was over 175 years old. After the ceremony we found the handicapped entrance /

exit. It was a small platform lift on the outside on the building next to a

flight of stairs. The only way to use it was to have an attendant use a key

each

time up or down. The reception was outside on the lake front ( Lake Michigan).

It

was very nice and elegant. Walking on grass with crutches for me was very

exhausting. To day my knees, ankles, and hips are sore. Now for recuperation.

Happy Trails

Owen