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The show had not, however, touched upon a subject that I felt would open the eyes of many people – life with a disability. I had considered many times writing to the show and suggesting this as a topic, but knew that it would be a topic eventually. On June 10, 2008, on the second episode of the show’s third season, it was.
Spurlock followed the journey of a former NFL player as he experienced firsthand life in a wheelchair. After being turned down by several players, Super Bowl champion Ray Crockett agreed to the challenge and seemed almost eager.
After visiting with a rehabilitation doctor and learning what to expect, Crockett was given a manual wheelchair and introduced to life as a paraplegic. He attended support groups, talked with newly injured patients and found it hard to stomach the stares he got from strangers. He learned, along with the rest of the audience, I hope, how inaccessible most houses and public places are, how difficult it sometimes is to be accepted by the general public and, most importantly, how a disability impacts everyone around you, friends and family included.
Watching the show, I learned a few things I didn’t know. Crockett retrofitted his house and his car to be accessible to him. I knew this was an expensive process, but I was stunned to find out just how expensive. Retrofitting a car with hand controls is a fairly inexpensive undertaking, costing only in the low hundreds. Retrofitting a van with raised roof and lowered floors, however, can cost up to $80,000, making it cheaper to buy a new accessible vehicle. Making a house accessible can cost up to $50,000, forcing most people with disabilities to make do with what they already have.
The facilitator of the support group that Crockett attended, a quad from a diving accident, said something to the athlete that resonated with me – something along the lines of “Once the damage is done, it can’t be undone, so why not just get on with your life.” I learned this lesson at a very young age, and it’s a conclusion that I think most people with disabilities come to in their own time. Those who don’t, those who sit around waiting for a cure that may or may not come, waste so much of their lives and become bitter and angry.
I had to give Ray Crockett respect for being willing to undertake this experience and for seeing it all the way through. I do think he experienced something that most able-bodied people never do and next time he passes someone in a wheelchair on the sidewalk or in the store, he will have a better understanding of what they go through just to be out and about. But at the end of 30 days, Crockett got out of his wheelchair and returned to his daily life as if nothing had happened, playing basketball with his sons and running 5 miles a day. Although I do think lessons were learned, I do wonder how much of that knowledge was retained since he knew that after a month, the chair would be gone. By: Megan Drummond
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