When I mentioned that we could not continue our family vacation bc my wheelchair was wrecked, a lot of you guys wanted to know what happened.

This wheelchair has been essential to recovering. When it was damaged, I lost support I depended on to safely enjoy time with my family.

Before I continue, Disney DID make it right. They accommodated for our trip being shorted and made a commitment to fixing the chair. I’m thankful for that!

It’s not often that you see such accountability and a GOOD ending to this type of story.

We were making our way to Toy Story Mania giving Echo a break in the stroller. We were in line for the ride and my wheelchair worked as perfectly as we expect a $37k wheelchair to behave.

A complex power wheelchair is individually prescribed, fitted, and programmed around a person’s body and daily needs. I became eligible for such medical device shortly after I was bombarded with convulsive seizures daily following a devastating car accident in 2019 many of you know about.

We transferred onto the ride. They told me they would use the attendant joystick to park it. We agreed. Later we found that they crushed the wheelchairs cables into the railing. I noticed the attendants messing with the underneath of the chair. I didn’t think much of it.

When we got off, new cast members were there. They couldn’t seem to drive the wheelchair back to me.

Each time the chair was turned on, several error codes popped up. I asked if they knew what was changed underneath the chair. The original cast members weren’t there and they brought in the manager + a handyman to help. No one could figure out how to move it. Hours passed. The park was closing. Kids are crying, we are stressed, and they asked “how do you want to proceed?”

We put it manual, and just a few weeks after a major abdominal surgery, I pushed two kids in a stroller with a service dog underneath from the wheelchair while Ruben pushed a 400 pound wheelchair IN MANUAL up and down slopes to the front of the park. Both of us are in sweating but Ruben says “I think we should tell guest relations.”

#DisabilityAwareness #WheelchairAccessibility #DisneyWorld #AccessibleTravel #DisabilityAdvocacy