‘Handing back chair is like losing my legs’
A WOMAN fears that losing her “pink princess” wheelchair will make the public’s treatment of her even worse – saying she is often insulted in the street for not looking “stereotypically” disabled.
Michelle Higginson, 37, from Clifton Grove, says that losing the six-foot-tall pink electric wheelchair will make her more vulnerable to strangers who frequently question whether or not she is ill.
She can no longer afford the tall wheelchair and says that using a push wheelchair will put her in intense pain, and make her feel less confident when people comment on her illnesses because she will be lower down.
Ms Higginson was injured in an incident three years ago which resulted in medical conditions that left her needing to use a wheelchair.
The mum of four has a functional neurological disorder where the brain abnormally processes sensory information coming to it from the body, and chronic regional pain syndrome that causes persistent, severe and debilitating pain.
She also suffers from seizures, cluster headaches, degenerative disc disease and fibromyalgia, a condition that causes widespread pain and extreme tiredness.
But Ms Higginson says that she is regulalrly insulted by members of the public who question whether she is disabled.
She said: “Even being in a wheelchair people still assume that I’m not disabled and I get a lot of stick for it, just because I don’t look what is stereotypically seen as disabled.
“I was in Old Market Square on my pink wheelchair and a man jumped in my face swearing and said that I looked able-bodied and that there was nothing wrong with me. It had me in tears.
“I get this on the bus and in shops too.
“They come up to me and ask how I’m disabled. And it happens every day.
“It does really hurt, just because someone makes an effort to try and be the same person they were before doesn’t mean that they’re not disabled.”
Ms Higginson is more worried about the abuse now that she is having to give up her wheelchair which she had branded the “pink princess”.
The unemployed mum had to choose between paying rent, providing for her teenage sons and her £250-a-month wheelchair, which was taken away on Thursday.
“When I was in that chair I felt like I could deal with it more because I wasn’t physically lower down than the people who would insult me.
“Now I’m in a push wheelchair I feel so vulnerable, I don’t even want to leave my bungalow. People sometimes in shops won’t even help me so in a push one I’m stuck.
“After spending an hour in the push wheelchair I had to rest for two days – the pain is hell.
“And then once the pain hits a certain point I suffer seizure.”
Ms Higginson is allergic to pain medication, so cannot manage the resulting discomfort easily.
She said that losing the wheelchair would be devastating for her.
“We’re on the council list for housing but they can’t do any more than they already have and neither can the NHS.
“I had to choose between paying for my wheelchair and paying for my rent and for food for my children, so I made the only choice a mother would make.
“The height of the electric wheelchair means that I can get stuff from the shelves myself and I don’t need help. It makes me feel more independent when I’m out in it – I feel like the old me that could do things on her own.
“Handing is back is like losing my legs.”
Ms Higginson started a Gofundme on Sunday, August 15, with a goal of £9,000 to buy a replacement.
“I’m a proud person and I didn’t want to do it. I always try to do as much as I can by myself but if I can get some help and raise awareness for invisible illnesses then that would be great.”
One of her closest friends, Ian Walters, 44, from Beeston, said: “She’s faced such horrible comments from people in the past it’s unbelievable. “People are incredibly nasty to her but she just laughs and puts on a brave face. “Shopworkers can be so unhelpful to her as well, acting as if she’s asking for a lot when she wants some help when in a push wheelchair.” The bus driver also appealed for people to get together and help out his friend.
He added: “If I had the money I would gladly give it to her.
“I see it as a wrongdoing that something needs to be done about. I’m going to do everything I can to help and I’d hope other people would want to help too.”
DISABLED MUM FEARS MORE ABUSE AFTER GIVING UP HER ‘PINK PRINCESS’
In that chair I felt I could deal with the abuse because I wasn’t physically lower down
Michelle Higginson