(Not a) Damsel in Distress

"I'm a damsel, I'm in distress, I can handle this."

-Meg (Disney's Hercules)

Something happened yesterday that was a new experience. My wheelchair broke on me. I should clarify that my wheelchair broke on me while I was ass high up in the air. You see... I was trying out the tilt feature on my chair as I've only used it for little tilts, not mega tilts and I wanted to see how far it would go. I felt like I stopped it even before the max limit. I laughed with my mom as I laid there, until I realized I was really stuck.

My mind quickly went into problem solving mode. I'm the girl you want with you in an emergency. I realized I couldn't do anything about the situation laying on my back like that. So I asked my mom to help me get out by removing the side arm and letting me brace myself on her arm. Fortunately I have legs that go on for miles, so I was able to very carefully shift to the side and wiggle my way down. I was up very high, so I was ultra careful. I moved gingerly to keep my center of gravity in the middle of the chair as it could very easily tip over.

Like a wounded ninja I slunk out of my beloved Dory and made it safely to the ground. Step one was complete. I knew it was some kind of mechanical error because the control panel would switch on, but just stay on the home screen. I had no control over it and could only switch it off and on. My first thought was to try and reboot the electronics, but I had no idea how to do that. I started looking for some kind of button, or way to unplug it from the battery. 

Failing both of those I knew I had to call my wheelchair company. My dead phone disagreed with that decision. Mom to the rescue again! Thank God I wasn't alone. I would have just been laying there calling for help. And thank goodness I still had some mobility. I don't relish being rescued by the fire department. 

First I called the main number, then I was transferred to my local servicer, then to the voice mail of my "service manager." Not to be waylaid I called the local number again and this time I reached her. Then I was transferred to the main corporate service department for tech help. The "expert" had us install an app so he could see the "problem" via live video. Now I was hoping for some actual help! Uhhhh... no. The guy told us about the "secret button" to restart it, but it didn't work. (But now I know where it is.) As I was on another long hold I was examining Dory and seeing what could have gone wrong. Then I saw it.

Right in front of me I saw the hinge that rotates when the chair tips back. Pinched in that hinge was the small, black power cable that connects to my control box. The cable was pulled tight and right away I knew what happened. The cable became caught in that hinge when I was tilting back and the more I tipped the tighter it was pulled. EUREKA! But when the tech got back on the line he sounded dubious and doubtful. He put me on hold again. My mother and I figured out a way that we could create a little slack on the cable by lowering the arm rest and turning the control box to the side. It worked! We had enough slack on the cable that it came out of the hinge.

I tried turning the chair back on and nothing happened. I turned it back off and rubbled the cable a little where it was pinched. I think we all deserve a nice rub after a traumatic experience. Well, I must have magic hands just like my husband because Dory turned right on and I had controls back. "Mr. No Help" came back on the line and I explained what just happened. He acted like that was the end of the call. I told him directly that I would be needing a service visit and a new cable because this one was obviously now compromised. "Oh... Ok" was all he said. (Jesus give me strength!)

So with zero help from my wheelchair company I discovered the problem and fixed my chair myself. Jeeeeeeeze. I won't bore you with more details of what happened this morning when it looked like Dory wasn't charging, but suffice to say that I'm getting a loner chair delivered in 3 days while a new controller with cable is being ordered.

I felt horrible for people with no mobility who really would have been stranded. And why had my 60K chair not worked 100% right the first time I used tilt? I JUST had work done on it. It should have been tip-top. And what about people who aren't skilled at getting what they need over other phone? Or who just don't have the energy to be persistent? Or who don't have a strong Mama with a full phone right there? Or who can't afford a 60K chair to have it break down on them in the first place?

Disability is hard enough not to add cruddy companies on top of it. I shouldn't have had to find the problem and fix it myself. They should have not screwed up when putting my chair together so it would happen in the first place. 

People have an emergency number to call if their car breaks down, so why not an even more important mobility device? Why aren't they insured by the companies who provide them (at an insane cost I might add.) 

The more I live my life as a disabled woman, the angrier I get at our broken system. At people parking in the disabled van spot. At the lack of affordable equipment for people who need it. At the crazy long waits to get anything done on repairs. At the total lack of any oversight and quality control. At the lack of accessibility and representation I see everywhere. I wish I had more spoons to actively fight these injustices.