I haven’t had a chance to post for a while since I have spent the last week on a relief mission in Baton Rouge. The United Spinal Association in NYC sent a bus and truck loaded with wheelchairs and other mobility devices to Baton Rouge for people with disabilities who had lost or had their wheelchairs damaged during hurricane Katrina. I went along to do the evaluations, adjust and fit wheelchairs, and help out in any way possible.
The equipment and the wheelchair adapted bus were being donated to the Resources for Independent Living (RIL) program by the United Spinal Association. The RIL is based in New Orleans and in Baton Rouge. When their New Orleans location was flooded they moved the entire operation to Baton Rouge where they found themselves in an Alamo situation.
They are a great crew who do the tough jobs in the trenches so that their clients can live in the community and avoid being placed in nursing homes and institutions. RIL was short on everything except dedication and elbow grease. Staff were hard at work keeping the flow of services coming to their clients, locating clients that had been displaced to who-knows-where or who had not been accounted for, and providing services to a growing number of new clients.
It was an amazing experience that left a lasting impression on me. I had all along thought of this disaster in terms of this massive and destructive act of nature. It is in fact a much different thing. It is very much about people. The clients we worked with were unbelievable. All were people with a disability or in many cases multiple disabilities. They included a broad spectrum of disabilities, deaf, blind, SCI, amputees, CVA, CP, and a host of others. All were kind to each other and showed concern, helped each other, had patience, and made the best of it. I don’t know how these people kept their sense of humor and composure, but they somehow did.
I could go on for some time about the people I met down there but I would rather you have a look for yourself.
The president and the director of Resources for Independent Living. They were happy to see us pull up. We were just as happy to see them.
Gertrude and her mother await their turn. This wonderful girl just lit up the room with her smile. Gertrude required several positioning devices that we did not have with us. United Spinal Association will be mailing them down.
Triaging a C4-5 quadriplegic. Ron’s wheelchair needed some adjustments and a new controller. We couldn’t manage to do all of the repairs that Ron needed to his wheelchair. Upon getting the bad news Ron stated, “That’s okay, there are lots of people here in worse shape than me.”
Sean Sr. and Sean Jr. at the RIL. Sean Jr’s wheelchair was left behind when he and his family were evacuated from New Orleans by helicopter. The wheelchair he is in was loaned to him by a hospital that the family is being housed in. We managed to find a small sized wheelchair in the hoard that will get Sean Jr. by until he can get an appropriate one.
This young lady needed a number of adjustments to her wheelchair to keep her from falling out of it. A T4 paraplegic, she waited patiently all day and still had enough good attitude and a sunshine smile left at the end.
Vernon, a C6-7 quadriplegic who escaped hurricane Katrina and New Orleans in a school bus driven by his cousin, discusses how best to cannibalize a wheelchair with Hubert Fairweather. Hubert, a United Spinal Association master wheelchair technician, made this little miracle and many others happen. Vernon left with his original custom wheelchair intact and rolling. Hubert was truly amazing in these situations.
Jody points out one of the many problems he was having with his power wheelchair. They were mostly alignment and adjustment issues and were all taken care of.
United Spinal Association is dedicated to enhancing the lives of all individuals with spinal cord injury or disease by ensuring quality health care, promoting research, advocating for civil rights and independence, educating the public about these issues, and enlisting its help to achieve these fundamental goals.
Help them to continue and expand this mission. Please donate.
Wow, that was a real errand of mercy you were on. I think you deserve to be commended for what you did. I used to live in louisiana by the way (leesville). Hopefully, in the future, the federal government will be quicker to respond and more organized as well.
Thanks for the kind words Tim. I can’t take the credit for this one. United Spinal Association did the tough work, logistics and beaucoup funding. All I had to do was hang with some super cool people. You should be extremely proud of the people down there. They are keeping it together through some tough times.
What a wonderful thing to do! Organizations like the United Spinal Association are a godsend. Our prayers go out to the victims of this disaster and our thanks go out to organizations like yours. This is a great thing you are doing.
Thanks Mary. Your sentiments are greatly appreciated. There are a great number of people who were not there on the spot but nonetheless played an important role in this. Our staff at United Spinal, our board members, the many well wishers, and of course the public who support these efforts with their donations.