Jarred, France

paraplegic

Jarred was twenty-one when he was in a car accident in Austin, Texas that left him paraplegic. When asked about the aftermath of the accident, Jarred stated that he experienced, “a period of mourning, and you have to re-adjust what your sense of person is. It is literally the mourning of what you were, which included walking around.” After some time, he realized that he is the exact same person that he was, he just had new limitations which required adjustments.

Over the past twenty years, Jarred moved from Austin and has lived in Scotland, London, and now resides in France. He is a writer and an artist and has traveled to many different countries and has gained an appreciation for countries that are accessible. He said, “it is ridiculous how accessible Japan is… the US is pretty good because ADA is enforced.” He also noted that the Scandinavian countries are extremely accessible with Germany and the Netherlands next on the list. The countries he noted that are terrible when it comes to having and enforcing accessibility codes are places like France and Italy. For example, “In the U.S. when I rent a car, I tell them I am in a wheelchair and I tell them I need hand controls… as long as I do that within 24-72 hours in advance, it has never been a problem…in France, it is not even possible.”

Jarred does not see himself as disabled. He has great upper body strength and can get around well. “Most of the time, I do not think about my wheelchair…I just go about my life, just as if you were left-handed.” The most common issue he runs into is nonaccessible restrooms. “Toilets are always the hardest, especially in Europe, because a lot of these buildings did not have them when they were built.” Jarred explained that often he can get himself to the toilet but is unable to close the door behind himself because of the lack of space for him and his wheelchair. Many older buildings do not have ramps or elevators, only stairs. Jarred can pop a wheely to climb anything that is twenty centimeters in height like entering a train, a curb, one large step, but the moment there are two or more small steps, it is impossible for him. Jarred intentionally has a very lightweight wheelchair that is less than nine pounds so that he can easily maneuver or lift it. His kids also like to sit in his lap to take a ride on the “Papa Trolley” occasionally when out exploring cities.

Restaurants in the US are often more accessible than the ones in Europe due to the enforced ADA codes. “Restaurants tend to be okay, but the worst are the tables with the center legs and then with the feet and I cannot get close enough to sit close.” Retail spaces are usually okay, but there are often small bodegas (small grocery stores / markets) that are impossible to access in a wheelchair. In those cases, people are typically willing to help and assist you as needed. Jarred does not expect the world to bend over backwards to accommodate him everywhere, but he stated, “I am less patient than I was because these laws have been around for twenty years, if you wanted to make it accessible, you could have, but you didn’t care.”

As I mentioned at the beginning, Jarred is a writer and has a new book that just debuted in 2021, it is called THE COWARD which is about a disabled character, and it mirrors a lot of Jarred’s experiences. Check it out!

As I mentioned at the beginning, Jarred is a writer and has a new book that just debuted in 2021, it is called THE COWARD which is about a disabled character, and it mirrors a lot of Jarred’s experiences. Check it out!