Over the years I’ve often heard and read the expression “confined to a wheelchair.” I detest this expression. A recent article about a homeless person also used the phrase in an effort convey pity for that person. This is wrong thinking in my opinion, it gives the impression that we are confined by our wheels.
Those of us in the advanced stages of COPD often have mobility problems. This is when we turn to mobility scooters and powerchairs. From what I have heard and seen, we are always grateful when we regain our mobility.
Some people are confined in prisons for obvious reasons. Some are confined to mind numbing jobs for less obvious reasons. There are many types of confinement and none of them are related to wheelchairs or mobility scooters. It’s true some of us cannot get up and walk away from our chairs, but, can you imagine the despair of the homeless man if his wheelchair was not available?
The worst prison or confinement is in your own home, looking out the window to a world of beings able to come and go as they please while you are physically unable to join them. Wheelchairs and scooters are not prisons and/or punishment. They are freedom. They rescue us from the confines of our failing bodies and allow us to re-enter the living useful world that surrounds us.
I own a power chair and scooter, It is impossible say how grateful I am for the wheels under me, for the freedom they have given me. As is easily seen, I am not confined by my wheels, I am confined by my illness and I resent anyone who is so blinded to something so apparent. To those who write about the handicapped, in the future, please refrain from using the word ‘confined to’ and replace it with ‘freed by’ when speaking those of us in wheelchairs. Our wheels have released us from our confinement and we are free to roam at will.
Bill Justice