I was out on my attachable handcycle today called the rio dragonfly. I got hung up on the entrance ramp to the back of the school with the single front tire up the bump and my wheelchair wheels down the bump on the street. I had my c5 grips on and tried and tried to go up to no avail, then tried to go down and was getting hung up on the footrest and the coaster brake kept activating. At this point Im about to break spokes and damage my handcycle so I did something smart........I stopped and evaluated the situation. I then took the c5 grips off , took glasses off and tried to push using the handrims of the chair, but it was too steep without a run at it. I always carry water, cathe materials, cell, pocket knife so I wasn't to concerned. There were a few people that saw me struggling and walked away to not get involved.......this is typical in my experience, some jut don't know how to help or want to be involved. Finally a guy pulls in gets out of his car and says, I see you all the time, don't you know how to drive that thing? I just smiled and said could ya go to the back of the chair and gimme a push. he pushed and I propelled the whole contraption up the steep curb. I thanked the man repeatedly and was grateful he stepped up to the plate and helped. The question I ask is would a pitbull stuck in the fence get help quicker than I did? The other thing I would tell new chair users is eventually you will get in a sticky situation, rather than break things, tear out shoulders or get someone else hurt, always stop and figure out the best plan of attack and carry the necessities with you on your chair or in your van . We disabled folk have to be aware and a little smarter than normal joes out there.
Ive had two seatbelts become jammed while I was out and had to cut them to use restroom and get into van seat. Carry a multitool or a small pocketknife. Ron
