Wheelchair Problems While Travelling

Travelling to different places around the world can be very exciting and fun.  On my most recent trip to Las Vegas a few weeks ago, I had major wheelchair problems.  Even after politely reminding 3 different sets of staff members at the airport to be careful with my powerchair, I still had problems.  Normally I travel with my manual wheelchair and normally I bring both my powered and manual chairs to Vegas but this trip I decided to only bring my powerchair to cut down on things to bring since  I am only going for 3 and a half days.  What could go wrong?  After arriving at the Vegas airport, I noticed both of my arm rests on my chair have been broken.  Somebody dropped my wheelchair or it fell over somehow.  I also realized that my battery wasn’t being charged properly either, so I did not know what happened there.

taped up arm rests and dead powerchair in Vegas

After making a claim at the airport and having someone call my hotel room, I was supplied a replacement manual wheelchair the next evening to use during the remainder of my Vegas stay.  Even after telling Scootaround my limitations and disability, I was given a manual wheelchair that did not meet my needs.  The chair had such a low backrest that I kept falling over while sitting.  So I had no choice but to use my dead powerchair for the rest of the trip.  I had to get my buddy to push me around the city in my heavy powerless chair.  This was not the only time that something has gone wrong on my trip.  I had missing wheelchairs, broken commode, broken chairs too.  How do I just continue on my trip? Here are my top 5 tips for dealing with wheelchair problems while travelling:

1.) Document Everything And Follow Up

I find it very important to document anything and everything that has happened to your damaged wheelchair or item.  Even taking pictures can help identify what has happened to your item.  On my latest trip to Vegas, I made sure to catch the name of who I talked to at the damaged baggage desk and the company that will contact me and the name of that person.  I kept all the claim numbers, emails and approximate times of every incident.  Even when I came home after the trip, I followed up with phone calls and emails to make sure I got the right amount of compensation to fix my wheelchair.

airline broke the wheel on my commode

2.) Be Calm And Cool

I find the best way for dealing with stress from wheelchair problems or any travelling situation is to be as calm and cool as I can.  If I get too worked up and get too stressed and panic, I might not think clearly and forget details about how to resolve issues.  Plus the nicer I am to the people who are looking after my problem the better they will react to me and the more willing they are to help me out.  No one likes to be around someone that is loud and angry.

3.) Travel With The Right People

It also helps to travel with someone who can handle stress and problems while travelling.  It would not be good to travel with someone who would just yell and curse and make the already stressful situation even worse.  Also, it would be good to have a friend who is resourceful and strong.  On my most recent trip, even though I couldn’t get a proper manual wheelchair to use for the remainder of my trip, my friend was still willing to push my heavy dead powerchair around the city for the rest of the trip.  Once I had a broken wheel on my commode and my friend was very resourceful and made a temporary fix until I could get my commode fixed.

my buddy fixing my front casters

4.) Enjoy The Trip Anyways

Yes, you may have wheelchair problems while on your trip, but my advice is to try to enjoy your trip as much as possible.  You may not ever get a chance to revisit the city that you are in.  If I didn’t have so many pictures from every trip, I wouldn’t even remember what issues I have on which trip.  Since I focus only on the positives of travelling, my excitement on seeing new things outweigh the negatives of everything else.

always enjoying my trips

5.) Learn For Next Trip

Whatever happens on your trip, you can always use your experience to help prevent that situation from happening again.  I make sure to tell airport staff to take extra care of my belongings.  Having my powerchair breaking down during my last Vegas trip, I will now bring my manual wheelchair along as my back up.  On a previous trip, the back rest from my manual wheelchair went missing for a few hours after arriving to my destination, that I always bring that with me when boarding a plane.

learn from your trip and keep on travelling

So yes, wheelchair problems can and will occur on your vacations.  That should not scare you or prevent you from enjoying what the world has to offer.  Hopefully my tips about dealing with wheelchair problems while on your trip help minimize the stress and maximize the enjoyment of it.

always up for an adventure