Tips from a Wheelchair Newbie

byIanCampbell

324 followers

10 years ago

Just over a year ago, in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, I stubbed my toe. No big deal at the time but now, because of it, I am now facing life in a wheelchair.

I spent Christmas last year in hospital. I was determined that this year was going to be different. I would spend it with an old friend. The only problem is that we live in different parts of the country 317 miles apart. So the first problem to solve was how to get there with my new transport… an NHS wheelchair!

There were three possibilities:-

Drive – but I am still waiting for Driving License permissions

Bus – an unknown quantity with respect to wheel chairs

Train – expensive and a nasty inter-station transfer between stations in London

Air – another unknown quantity for the wheel chair traveller

For my first adventure I chose the bus and in particular National Express and these are a few of things that I learnt.

The National Express service runs throughout the country.

The National Express service accepts wheelchair-bound users but requires 36 hours’ notice. The question is why?

An inquiry informed me that whilst it was quite feasible to load your wheel-chair as baggage (if you can walk on to the bus). National Express required 36 hours notification if you needed to board the bus in your wheelchair which necessitates the two front seats being removed from the front of the coach so that the wheelchair can be lifted aboard on a lift and secured in place.

On this first adventure, I decided to board the coach as a normal, if slow-walking passenger. Luckily, the company had noticed my disability notification when I purchased the ticket and had reserved the front seats directly behind the driver.

I had thought through the travel part of the adventure and had made the decision not to take the footrests with me. I considered that if I left them on then in the vast cavern of the baggage space they might do a lot of damage to other baggage and if I removed them, then unless they were securely stowed, then I might not see them again. This decision had consequences. Lifting one’s leg of the ground whilst someone is pushing you is one thing but holding your leg off the ground whilst propelling yourself over ‘pastures’ new is tricky and there were several times when I wished I had brought them with the wheelchair.

After a journey of 70 miles and nearly two and a half hours, we rolled into London’s Victoria Coach Station, right in the heart of the city and only a couple of city blocks from Bucking Palace.

Victoria Coach Station comes in two halves… a smaller ‘Arrivals’ section and a much larger ‘Departure’ section. The distance from one to the other is not great, but it is difficult in a wheelchair and involves crossing a busy London Street and if you are new to the game this scenario is one to be avoided if at all possible. Luckily, earlier, the coach driver had said to me “Stay on board Squire when we get to Victoria and I’ll take you across the road.” At the time, I had just thanked him for his consideration and thought nothing more about it until our arrival.

Following his instructions, I remained seated until every other passenger had alighted the bus and the driver proceeded to navigate his way from ‘Arrivals’ to ‘Departures’- a journey around a whole city block which took about ten minutes. When I got out of the bus, not only was my wheelchair awaiting me but it came with an attendant who pushed me to a small Disability Waiting Lounge’ which I didn’t even know existed! Here, I was able to check-in with my tick for the next stage of my journey to Liverpool, a mere five and a half hours away and I had the best part of two hours to wait until its departure.

The Disability Waiting Lounge is a facility operated by the London Transport system and not by National Express. It not only has a check-in desk but also washroom facilities for disabled people with or without wheelchairs. This was a godsend. The key is with the desk clerk but is also accessible with a ‘radar’ key.

I had an hour and a half to kill and went looking for one of the several food kiosks that exist throughout the coach station and this is where things started getting a tad difficult. The walkway was made of glossy surfaced tiles which are not the best things to grip with wheelchair tyres… no matter, but what was an impediment was the slope which was about three or four degrees ‘UPHILL’.

I was travelling light – a small ruck-sack ‘jerry rigged’ over my wheelchair’s handlebars, and my heavy-duty ‘Made in Arizona’ walking-stick. Part-way up the slope I realised that I couldn’t hold the walking-stick in one hand and propel myself with the other with the aid of my one-foot power system… just not enough foot power or grip! I quickly thought the problem through; tucked the walking stick under my chin and re-started with two-handed power pushing. One could say that my way of tackling the problem was, shall we say, less than graceful but help was at hand and a gentleman waiting for another coach saw my predicament; left his seat and belongings and pushed me into the food kiosk some thirty yards away and made sure I could access everything I wanted before leaving me to my own devices.

If ascending the slope wasn’t difficult enough, descending it is even worse and the realisation that if at any time you lose control of the one foot braking system combined with the hands-on-wheels braking system, then you are truly in the SH1T and are going to be careering out of control and probably going to end up in another hospital. NOT GOOD!

However, once again, I was rescued. This time by an Arab looking gentleman who safely returned me to the Disability Waiting Lounge. The next hour passed slowly but as soon as the coach was ready, an attendant collected me and pushed me across the coach park to the Liverpool coach; stowed the wheelchair in the baggage compartment and saw me safely on board… again in the front seats behind the driver. Six hours later, I was safely in Liverpool and on my way to my friends.

Lessons learned:-

Think through your trip before you go.

Anticipate whether you are strong enough to propel yourself and your wheel chair over the distances between changing coaches for example.

How are you going to carry your baggage? I was travelling very light to keep my hands free.

If you take a walking stick with you, is there some way you can stow it on the wheelchair? This frees one hand and you will need all the power you can muster from time to time.

Above all, treat it as an adventure and be aware that there will be problems along the way. Life in a wheelchair is about problem solving. I learnt a lot on this trip and hopefully you might have learnt something about travelling by National Express.

P.s. They have a Disable People’s Travel Card which saves you 30% on coach fares for a whole year.

P.p.s. I shall make the return trip in a few days’ time and this time I shall use the wheelchair on board the bus routing. I’ll let you know what transpires!