Workers to the rescue
PHILIP Rawson wants to thank the men who came to his aid, after he had crawled and pushed his electric wheelchair 6 metres when it broke down.
The two road workers hoisted up his wheelchair onto the back of their truck and drove him safely back to Elizabeth Knox Home and Hospital, when they found him stranded last week.
Rawson would like to offer them a ‘‘heartfelt thanks’’.
‘‘They treated me with absolute dignity.
‘‘I was in an unpleasant state to be around and they totally treated me just perfectly,’’ he says.
‘‘It was clearly out of their way and yet they helped me out and that was awesome.’’
The 44-year-old, who has spina bifida, went out for a trip around the block in Epsom when his chair came to a halt along the pedestrian access to the Mt St John Domain on Market Rd.
‘‘I never intended to go that far, but I thought I would go a little bit of the way and just poke my nose around,’’ he says.
‘‘The chair just died and I was off the main footpath – far enough that I was thinking ‘what do I do?’’’
Rawson says he got on the the ground and managed to push the 150 kilogram chair about 6 metres down the path before spotting the men and shouting for help.
‘‘Without power the wheels lock in place and I was pushing it inch by inch down this path. I was there for about half an hour and had almost made it to the footpath.’’
The chair has broken down before, but always either at The chair just died and I was off the main footpath – far enough that I was thinking ‘what do I do?’ home or in a crowded public place, he says.
Rawson had felt confident going up the pathway until the chair stopped him in his tracks.
‘‘I’m not a panicker but after a while the panic set in. In the short term it has put me off. I know I’ll get over it, but this week it has put me off.’’
The two men ran over to help when they heard him shout out.
He asked them if they could go fetch his manual wheelchair from the Ranfurly Rd care home, but they said they could do one better.
‘‘Before I knew it they said they could hoist up my chair on to the back of the truck and put me in the cab.’’
The two men went back to work before he could properly thank them and Rawson says he is unsure what company they are from.
The wheelchair is now up and running again and Rawson says he will soon be back out exploring the neighbourhood.