Here’s a round-up of the newest information on this planet of accessible journey and incapacity, together with an unimaginable story of a group coming collectively to assist an influence wheelchair consumer evacuate after her house was flooded by a hurricane storm surge. There’s some optimistic information too, together with improved entry at a UNESCO World Heritage Website and improved airport safety screening measures for folks with communication issue.
Accessible Journey Information from Across the Net
- Wheelchair Consumer Escapes Flooded Residence by Floating on a Surfboard — 10 years in the past, Mary Ellen Olsen and her husband have been impacted by the horrible results of Hurricane Sandy — after {an electrical} fireplace engulfed the couple’s house in flames, Mary discovered herself in a precarious scenario: her energy wheelchair couldn’t navigate the streets, which have been coated by greater than 6 ft of water from the storm surge. With the assistance of neighbors, she made it out alive — learn the superb story on this story from the New York Publish.
- Wheelchair Consumer’s Van Blocked by Illegally Parked Automotive at Atlanta Airport — After arriving on a flight to Atlanta, Yvette Pegues went to gather her automobile from the airport parking zone, solely to search out it blocked by an illegally parked automobile. She couldn’t entry her van’s ramp, so she known as for assist. The police and airport parking authority did nothing, and Yvette was pressured to have a member of the family choose her up in a non-accessible van, which meant she needed to depart her mobility gadget behind.
- Accessible Fishing Enterprise Hits Alaska’s “Shark Tank” — Capt. Jack Finnegan has provided fishing journeys in Ketchikan, Alaska for a few years, however realized that his boats weren’t accessible to many disabled folks. Impressed by his earlier work within the incapacity group, Finnegan based “Fishability Alaska” to offer higher entry to wheelchair customers and others with disabilities. He not too long ago introduced the concept on the Alaska Journey Trade Affiliation’s model of “Shark Tank.”
- Meet the Girl Who Has Manufactured & Donated 1000’s of Wheelchairs to Disabled Individuals in Pakistan — Disabled folks in creating nations don’t have entry to the identical degree of help as these of us within the west — with a wheelchair being a “luxurious” not often offered by governments. Zahadi Qureshi, who contracted polio is a toddler in Pakistan, spent her childhood crawling from place to position as a result of she didn’t have a wheelchair. As we speak, she’s change into a heroine, founding a non-profit that manufactures and distributes wheelchairs to disabled folks all through Pakistan.
- ADA Settlement: Philadelphia to Repair 10,000+ Curb Ramps — Sidewalks are about to change into way more accessible within the Metropolis of Philadelphia. Following a category motion lawsuit introduced by a lot of disabled folks, the town has agreed to construct, set up and/or remediate 10,000 curb ramps over the subsequent 15 years. Tony Brooks, a plaintiff within the lawsuit, stated that “Activists and advocates combating for incapacity rights in Philadelphia, like myself, now have a victory right here in our metropolis that we’ve needed for a very long time.”
- Denver’s Crimson Rocks Amphitheatre to See New Accessibility Enhancements — Denver’s iconic Crimson Rocks Amphitheatre will achieve a rise in wheelchair accessible seating areas earlier than the beginning of the subsequent live performance season, in response to a report within the Colorado Solar. Further accessibility enhancements are additionally deliberate, together with repaved ramps and a shelter on the shuttle bus cease.
- Qatar Airways informed para-athlete he couldn’t fly alone — I’ve flown Qatar Airways as a disabled wheelchair consumer who can’t stroll many occasions and my proper to fly unaccompanied has by no means been challenged. That wasn’t the case for Malaysian para-athlete Daniel Lee, who stated he felt “humiliated” when the airline’s workers initially informed him that he couldn’t fly alone on his flight from Cairo, Egypt.
And eventually, a video report concerning the DOJ’s current settlement with NJ Transit to enhance accessibility at 5 practice stations in New Jersey:
