Yesterday I was walking through a hotel when a guy in a wheelchair stopped me to ask me where the skywalk was. The man was in one of those low to the ground wheelchairs with the wheels slanted - sort of like a racer's wheelchair. He was also pushing in front of him another wheelchair. This wheelchair was different from the chair he was using. The wheels did not have spokes, but were solid and there was a third wheel resting on top of the chair. It also had a bumper around the base of the chair. I pointed down to corridor that he was heading toward the skywalk. A moment later, another man similarly equipped was following him.
As I left the hotel, I traveled in the same direction as the two wheelchair bound men. They had made it to the skywalk, but the door that was controlled by the automated controls would not work. This time I offered my help. I managed to get the door open and functioning on the automatic controls and as I traversed the skywalk, I opened the doors at the other end.
Interestingly though, this section of the skywalk has a slight incline to it. As a fully abled walker, I had no difficulty making it from one end to the other of the skywalk. The two men in wheelchairs did not find it so easy. Their task required using their hands and arms to maneuver themselves and another wheelchair up the incline. Gravity, of course, fought against them the entire way. Both men pushed hard on the wheels of their chairs while positioning the chair in front of them to lead it foward and up the incline. It was a short distance of 30-40 feet, but what took me only seconds to travel required a couple minutes for these men.
I wondered if I should help in some way. I had already opened the doors for these guys and now I questioned in my mind if there was something else I could do. In the end I decided that these men were rather independent and if they needed anything they would ask. As they reached the end of the skywalk and more level ground, I asked if they needed assistance with anything else. They replied with a simple "No" and that was fine - I went on my way.
I later found out that these guys were participating in a wheelchair basketball tournament. I thought quite a bit about these men and their challenge to get around, but also about their ability to adjust and overcome. I would have liked to sit down with them some and learn more about them, so that I didn't just see the wheelchairs, but saw more of the people. It would have been a good conversation I think.
