I received this question in an email. Here's my answer:
No, I no longer think about walking.
It simply does not occur to me to walk.
For example, when I'm about to get out of bed, I think about transferring as the next step. But I certainly don't think about getting out of bed and walking.
I haven't walked in almost two decades so this doesn't surprise me.
It sure seems to surprise a lot of folks who do walk however when I've answered this question before.
I was thinking about a video I watched yesterday of a quadriplegic getting out of bed. He uses a lift, then gets into his power chair and dresses. It's a two part video spanning what he does before he gets out of bed, but he also has a high speed version, which is below.For my visually impaired friends, he uses a sling and a lift to get out of bed into his power chair. The beginning of the video shows him getting into the sling.
So his process of moving around, getting from Point A to Point B is completely different than standing up and walking. As is mine.
I also don't think about walking during the day. I transfer here and there. I roll.
I move my body in other ways. It is that simple.
2 comments:
I am with you 100% Walking has no relevance to my life. I do wonder though about newly paralyzed people or what I call post ADA cripples. Seems to me too many think that at some point in next decade or so there will be a cure to SCI. While cure is a nice research goal it puts a paralyzed person in a vulnerable social and personal position. Here I think of a woman like Christina Symanski who killed herself by starvation. This is an extreme case for sure and deeply troubling.
Thanks for raising these issues, Bill.
I've found that advocating for providing care (because there are so many folks out there who need things in order to live with their disability) is crucial.
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