WAYNE THIBODEAU
The Guardian
A woman slips while trying to manoeuvre herself from her wheelchair to the toilet seat.
Her wheelchair tips and she falls hard on the floor.
Her only help, her husband, is at work.
The woman lies there, cold, alone and begging for somebody to come to her rescue. But help is nowhere to be found so she continues to wait and shiver in silence.
Five hours pass before her husband returns home and is able to come to her rescue.
Stephen Pate, director with P.E.I. Disability Alert, says the 40-year-old woman who suffers from neuromuscular disease is OK but too embarrassed to come forward with her story personally.
Pate shared the woman’s story with P.E.I. MLAs Thursday to highlight the struggles facing Islanders with disabilities. As he recounted the story, one could hear a pin drop in the boardroom where the meetings were taking place.
“It happens all the time,” Pate said.
“They lay there until somebody comes and finds them.”
“It happens all the time. They just wait until a neighbour comes by, or a husband comes home, or the spouse comes home.”
“It’s very difficult but if we provide the proper supports, they can stay in their homes.”
P.E.I. MLAs were told of a cold-hearted system that puts budgets ahead of people, consistently denying the disabled, including seniors, of the money they need for wheelchair ramps into their homes, wheelchairs to get around and basic renovations so they can still use the washroom by themselves.
Michael LeClair, 56, whose wife has MS, said more and more pressure is being put on the caregivers with little to no help coming from provincial government programs, like homecare.
“What the provincial apparatus does is offload responsibility to caregivers,” LeClair told P.E.I. MLAs, adding that the system walks away from the disabled if they have a caregiver.
“Caregivers are caught in an incredible catch-22. They provide care for people with disabilities and they are expected to earn an income. Their income collapses.”
“The province washes their hands of it. I think it’s shameful.”
A recent study showed the demand for barrier free rental units in Queens County was two-and-one-half times greater than the supply.
P.E.I. Disability Alert is calling on the province to adopt barrier free building codes, negotiate with the federal government for better programs for home repair, and provide additional income so Islanders with disabilities can continue to live in their own homes.
Pate’s group also wants the province to return the $1 million taken from the Disability Support Program in the April 2006 budget.
They are also calling for employee equity programs and employment equity legislation so those with disabilities who can work will get that opportunity.
Janice Sherry, chairwoman of the legislative standing committee examining the plight of P.E.I.’s disabled, said she hopes the recommendations of her committee will be the first step in the direction of making life easier for those living with disabilities.
Her committee’s recommendations will go before parliament this spring.
Sherry, who has worked with the disabled before entering public life, said she too knows of stories like the ones shared by Pate Thursday.
“Those situations that Mr. Pate talked about certainly are real,” she said.
“We hope the province can help.”
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