This morning I was sitting there wondering what I was going to post about today when I got an unexpected text from my boyfriend Rob saying “Hey, you should write a blog about that time I was pushing down that hill in your wheelchair and the wheel came off.”
True story.
Yes, I thought to myself. I should, given that I wasn’t hurt so I can actually have a good giggle about it all now. So, if you’re sitting comfortably, I’ll begin.
I’d had the wheelchair in question about a year when it happened. When I’d gone to the appointment to pick it up, I’d been told that, unlike my old one, this posh new one had removable footplates and wheels. Being able to take the footplates off came in handy for getting it in the car, but I didn’t want to mess around with the wheels if I could help it. I thought that might be tempting fate, so for that year, they stayed firmly in place.
Or so I thought.
Rob is a couple of years older than me so he went to university the year before me, so for the first four years of our relationship we did the long-distance thing. During his first year I was still at home finishing up my A Levels and in the school holidays, my dad agreed to drive me to see him for the weekend and that pick me up again. My dad is pretty awesome like that .
I took my wheelchair with me because I’d never been to the city that he was living in so I didn’t know how big it was, and this all happened about five years ago when I couldn’t walk as well as I can do now. My hard work over the last few years since my surgery really is paying off, but I digress.
We’d gone out into town. We were going down a fairly small hill when I thought this seems steeper than it did yesterday and I feel a bit wobbly. I wanted to make a joke about his driving skills, but we’d only been together a few months at this point so I thought it might not go down too well.
Then I heard the clunk.
“What was that?” we both asked as I started to tip to one side and thewe noticed my wheel starting to roll away.
Oh. Guess that’s what that noise was then.
Thankfully the runaway wheel came to a stop on its own so we didn’t have to worry about losing it. I didn’t fancy having to explain that one to wheelchair services (or my mum and dad) when I got home. However, I was now teetering on one side with Rob, using all the strength to make sure that I didn’t land flat on the pavement.
We were just wondering how we were going to get ourselves out of this one when a passing couple stopped to see if we needed any help. I don’t think they finished asking the question before I said yes please.
So they helped me undo my seatbelt and get myself out of the slightly unstable chair without hurting myself, then helped keep me upright and get the wheel back on and off we all went again, all unharmed, with a funny story that we could tell all our friends later.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Rob’s quite good at pushing the wheelchair really, I just like to wind him up.
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