2008 MANY STORIES ONE VOICE ONLINE COLLECTION

Brent Butson, Age 16, United Kingdom

 

Click HERE to download the story in Microsoft Word format

 

My Life in a Wheelchair

By Brent Butson

 

I am Benjamin age 14 with long blonde hair and glasses. when I was 10 I was hit by a car when riding my bike on the side of the road. I woke up in the hospital to find that I now was paralysed from the waist down. I have to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.

At first I was very upset because I like to be active. After the help of my physio therapists and my family I have learned to do many things to stay active. At home I have adapted my computer with many ACC programs including Kurzweil to help me with school and communication. I like to stay in touch with friends and family using facebook and MSN now adapted through the ACC programs.

One week night my sister Lillian asked me to come and watch her curl. She is in a tournament and her first game is against the London Spitfires vs. the Exeter Cannonballs.

On Saturday morning we woke up at 7:00 a.m. to get ready to go to the Exeter curling club. Lillian's first game starts at 9:00 a.m. and we have to be there for 8:20 a.m. to meet up with the rest of her team. I load myself into the car at 8:00 a.m. We arrived at the club at 8:10 a.m. After getting out of the car we realized that this club was not wheelchair accessible. Lillian carried me up many stairs to the sitting room. After Lillian went to join her team I talked to the owners about making the club accessible. The owners said it would cost way too much and they would close it before they would make any changes. After the day of watching my sister curl I decided to write a letter to our MPP Carol Mitchell and tell her about my concerns.