Wheelchair antics, Part II

[ninevirtues]

My knee is better this morning. I will continue to ice it and today is still a swim and weights day. Live and learn. Specifically, learn to MTB safely and without getting banged up, if you are me.

Sometimes we learn things that are cool and interesting, even though I never ever want to use them in real life. About a week and a half ago, we had class outside, and we learned to get people in wheelchairs up onto a curb and down off a curb. (I'll bet you never considered this but... not every town everywhere has curb cuts for disabled people.... but disabled people and their caregivers must still live there, or travel there.)

So.... I partner up with Chris, one of the bigger guys in class. (who says I don't like a challenge?) He sits down, I turn the chair's anti-tip wheels up (tiny wheels in back, designed to prevent exactly this occurrence), do a partial wheelie, and bump him up the curb.

How's that for a feeling of accomplishment?

Okay, now it's time for "down". Turn around, partial wheelie again, down the curb. Not bad. When it's my turn in the chair, though, I discover that it's scary to be the subject of the exercise.

Then we tackle stairs. (Calm down, I tell myself. Stairs are just a bunch of curbs stacked one on top of the other. Right?) Chris is in the chair... two other women, about my size, have grasped the sides of the chair... partial wheelie again... I'm at the head, so I call the steps... "One! Two! Three!" To my surprise and amazement, we can and do get him up the stairs. (If I were doing this in real life, I would want two large and competent individuals at the feet end of this process.)

Then it was time for "Down". I'll cut to the chase and tell you that I overbalanced, dumped Chris on his back, and then fell on him. (I'm really glad that he tucked his head... it would have been very bad if he had hit the back of his head on the concrete stairs!)

I felt really bad about that, but Chris was not hurt and didn't seem to mind. When it was my turn to be in the chair and experience the delights of the stairs, I thought it was very precipitous and scary.