How it all started
I am an ambulatory wheelchair user with a fatigue based chronic illness. My local council promised to make my front drive wheelchair accessible two years ago. Until this happens I can't go out independently using my power chair. I can only go out with the manual chair and a carer to push me in it. The attitude of the council is that I'm faking my need for access; as I'm an ambulatory wheelchair user I don't actually need the help. I also need a specific type of bath aid. A lift that allows me to get in and out of the bath safely. My OT says that they only provide bath aids in home for palliative care patients, and don't provide the sort of lift that I need at all. My long term chronic illness is a life sentence, not a death sentence, so I am unable to have the support I need to bathe independently. I can't afford to buy this privately. The ability to bathe is a basic human right that I am being denied.
What I did to try to overcome it
I have tried repeatedly to get the support I need through official channels. Nothing changes.
How it made me feel
Infantilised. Disbelieved. Unsupported. Trapped in my own home without escape. Not even able to take a bath without my male carer who is the only person physically strong enough to get me in and out of the bath.
The outcome
Nothing has changed.
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