International Wheelchair Day

by Jared Wayland

March 1st is International Wheelchair Day, an annual day for wheelchair users to celebrate the positive impact a wheelchair has on their lives. First launched in 2008, it is a day for celebration across the world.

If I’m being fully honest here, I was completely unaware of International Wheelchair Day until last year when someone told me about it. Naturally, I started looking into it and realized that this is an important day for so many people around the world (including myself), who not only use wheelchairs - but to create awareness that there are tens of millions of people around throughout the world who need a wheelchair but for so many reasons are unable to access or acquire one. These reasons range anywhere from cost of a wheelchair to living in a remote area. Unfortunately, there are many countries out there that do not provide any sort of support or help for people in these situations, and International Wheelchair Day works to bring awareness and solutions to that issue. It is never lost on me just how fortunate I am to be able to have so much support around when it comes to my wheelchair and disability, and I am very grateful for that.

The last reason we celebrate International Wheelchair Day is to acknowledge the many millions of people who provide and manufacture wheelchairs, provide support for wheelchair users, and people who actively try and make the world more accessible. I have spoken in length before about the maintenance of my power wheelchair, but to all the other employees at Quantum Rehab - you are just as appreciated! From the salespeople to the people building the chairs, I have personally seen just how hard you all work and how much you all care about your Quantum family of users.

I love my wheelchair. It provides me safety, freedom, and independence, and it is often hard to imagine my life without it, or without all the people who keep my wheels on the ground!

You can learn more about International Wheelchair Day at: https://internationalwheelchairday.wordpress.com/