Backup Camera

by Marie Pontini

In this series, where I explore how important the new accessories recently added to my power wheelchair have impacted my daily life. I now turn the focus on the backup camera developed by Quantum Rehab Canada. I have Multiple sclerosis and Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Among the symptoms I experience daily, I have spasticity in the neck, and a lot of pain that stops me from easily turning my head to look up or to the side. Over the years using my power chair, I developed a good spacial perception of my environment and the size of my wheelchair. Still, new elements or small ones being present behind my wheelchair, can easily be run over, walls damaged, and other breaks happening. The new backup camera is making my life so much easier to avoid this from happening. It is no longer a guess but a certainty as to where things are located versus my chair, and makes it much easier to navigate in my environment. Especially, in small spaces like my apartment and when I take para-transit vans. The biggest difference for me, is in relation with my illnesses. I no longer feel like it is stopping me from looking back or to the sides, and it’s a small frustrations that would accumulate with every situation during a day. It’s a relief but mainly a liberation from my physical limitations, that this camera brings me. It’s once again, a small accessory, that makes a life changing difference in my daily life.