I Never Saw This Coming
By Kevin Riggs
FODAC President Chris Brand was giving a tour recently to a group of doctors from India. He was showing them some adaptive technology we have on display outside my office when one of them noticed me and came in to get a closer look.
Before long, the entire group was huddled around my desk to get a closer look, some grabbing their cell phones to take pictures.
“What is the attraction?” I wondered.
I posed that question to Chris later. As it turns out, they had never seen a power wheelchair before and, perhaps even more telling, they had never seen seen someone with a disability working.
I’ve had a full-time job at FODAC since it 1997 and I have to be reminded it is still the exception and not the rule. I wonder what my life would be like in another country. Would I be thrown in some institution? How many people of average or above average intelligence end up wasting away because no one.saw their potential…and how do we change that?
“This ramp will give me freedom. Freedom to enjoy the comforts of my home of 20 years as I did prior to my stroke. I have already experienced a greater appreciation of the compassion of others who have utilized their skills and energy to organize the efforts of FODAC. God bless you all.”
Evelyn Peavy