ADA PDG Bios

Kim, TX quadriplegic Kim was sixteen years old when she was the passenger of a car accident where she broke her C-4 and C-5 vertebra and had surgery on her C-2-and C-7 vertebra, which are now fused together with wire. This all left her paralyzed from the neck down. Having her life change so drastically at such a young age took a lot of time to adjust. Right after the accident, she used a manual wheelchair because she was determined to get herself strong enough to use one.

However, she started to struggle with it and although it was discouraging, she switched to an electric wheelchair after a couple of years. “I had to come to the realization that I was going to be using the electric wheelchair… it was difficult to see myself in it, but what I loved was the independence and the freedom that I suddenly had. And from that moment on, there was no stopping me.” Once Kim became more comfortable in the electric wheelchair, she saw so many possibilities for her future. She attended Texas A&M and said that without the electric wheelchair, she would have never been able to get around that massive campus.

When Kim is in the wheelchair, she is nearly independent. It is when she must get out of the wheelchair such as going to the restroom, to bed, to stretch her back out, etc., that she relies on a caretaker, or her husband Phil. Kim has had many caretakers throughout the last thirty-seven years. They currently have one who lives at their house Monday through Friday to help with cleaning and cooking. “I need her hands to physically do the activities of making the meals.” Kim emphasized the importance of having a caretaker who is reliable. Their current one has been with them for the last fourteen years.

Kim tells many stories regarding difficulties she has faced with the built environment. She recently took her dog to the groomer and could not get into the door due to the very high threshold transition. Because of this obstacle, Kim had to drop her dog off at the front door. This not only frustrated Kim, but the store owner was just as annoyed at the design of the threshold transition, so much so that the owner paid someone to come out and fix the whole door. Kim stated, “I like that he saw my frustration and it made him frustrated and he took action to fix it…. and it did not just help me but helped so many other people and could actually help his business further.” Another great story is one about a clothing store she frequently shops at for her son.

The store recently expanded into the space next-door, and they told Kim that one of the reasons for the expansion was so that people like her could have more space between all the aisles and allow them to shop around the entire store. They even had Kim test it out once the expansion and re-model was complete.

One of the biggest concerns for Kim is understanding the bathroom situation in the public places she visits. Sometimes it can be a deciding factor on whether her and her husband go to a place.

The ideal bathroom would be a larger family restroom with more privacy and space for both her and her husband. However, that is often not the case. Another issue she has seen in restaurants is that the elevator can sometimes be placed in the strangest places. “A lot of times we go into a really nice restaurant, and we are dressed up, and we have to go through the kitchen to use the elevator to get to the second floor to our table… when you are really dressed up and you are going out… you really don’t want to walk through the kitchen.” The elevator may be convenient for the employees and servers, but the experience is not the same for Kim as it would be for other able-bodied customers.

Kim also expressed her concern about ramps. She has personally fallen forward out of her wheelchair going down a ramp, “when Phil and I started noticing all the things that we do that are not accessible, and the risks, I started adding a seatbelt to my wheelchair for safety.” The angle of the ramp is so important, not just for ease of manually wheeling up an incline, but also for your safety so you do not fly down and fall out.

Kim has overcome a lot in her life and has proved to be unstoppable. She was told by doctors that it was very likely that she would never get married and never have kids. Well, she did both and she continues to impress me with her knowledge, experience, and perspective. Be sure to check out the YouTube video featuring Kim.