When Not 'Getting It' Turns Fatal

The very day I was diagnosed with MS, I received a script for a cane. Several years later, I began using a walker in addition to - and then in lieu of my cane. As my MS has progressed, I found the need to add a wheelchair to help me when the walker just no longer sufficed. I was 37 years young when my assistive mobility devices became a part of my world. The misfortune was that I had a chronic debilitating disease. However, I was fortunate in that I became adept at managing the life changes that came along with it, and that included appreciating assistive devices that could help me enhance my quality of life.

My assisted devices

My cane assisted my gait and balance, my walker did the same plus offered more support and now my wheelchair use saves me from the fatigue I started to experience which would've ultimately led to me being completely bedridden with no zeal for life. My wheelchair affords me the opportunity to 'live' even if, albeit, it's a changed 'normal'. It's necessary and I get that, but everyone doesn't.

The importance of accessibility

I'm a personal witness to establishments that provide the bare minimum for handicapped accessibility. That alone can perpetuate anxiety, frustration, and even fear about venturing out. My wheelchair and whatever assistive measure I require should be respected. When society doesn't 'get it', there can be wretched outcomes, some more extreme than others...such as the plight of Engracia Figueroa.

A unfortunate story of carelessness

In 1992, Engracia Figueroa became disabled due to a spinal cord injury and left leg amputation from being hit by a Bay Area Rapid Transit train. She was, as she termed it, “re-disabled” in July 2021. Ms. Figueroa was a disability activist and had flown to Washington DC where she'd attended the Care Can’t Wait rally. Upon her return home to Las Vegas, she discovered her wheelchair that was custom-designed to fit her body was destroyed in the flight's cargo hold. Without her specialized wheelchair, and in the Airline's loaner chair that was quite insufficient for her needs, Ms. Figueroa had difficulty balancing and sitting upright. The chair didn't support her torso and hips and she developed complications which included a pressure sore that worsened and developed an infection that spread into her hip bone.¹

The impact of neglect

The traumatized woman released a statement saying "It was like my worst nightmare came true...This has been the most horrific experience of my 51 years living." Precious time was passing as Airlines are obligated to fix or replace damaged or lost wheelchairs under the Air Carrier Access Act, but Ms. Figueroa had told ABC News, “They’re attempting to fix it, but there’s nothing to fix." Ultimately, months later, the Airline agreed to replace the chair, but it was too late. Doctors tried to save Ms. Figueroa's life with emergency surgery, but she succumbed to her complications shortly thereafter on October 31, 2021.¹

"I just thought, all of the independence that I fought and strived for and successfully survived for soon to be 30 years by the minute, it's stripped away, and I was completely disabled and traumatized, as well as hurt and exhausted," Ms. Figueroa told ABC7 News.¹

Let's do better

Assistive products and technology enable people to live healthy, productive, independent, and dignified lives. In a perfect world, there'd be no need for organizations that are created solely to tirelessly work toward furthering disability rights through social change and public policy. But our world is far from perfect and one huge, fatal example is/was Engracia Figueroa. #RIP