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Bone disease can't stop Karl Nguyen but New York's lack of handicapped-accessible cabs almost did |
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05/07/2011
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Melnychuk/Getty | | | New York City can be
a very difficult place to
navigate for the disabled. | | | | |
He was waiting at a bus shelter at 10th Ave. and 23rd St. when we encountered Karl Nguyen, a visitor from California. He was hard to miss.
A rare genetic condition called osteogenesis imperfecta afflicted Nguyen with fragile bones and limited his growth. He sat by the curb in a 400-pound motorized wheelchair.
For the first 13 of his 26 years, Nguyen lived in Vietnam. There, he used his arms to push himself along the ground. Here in New York, the world's most advanced city, he was all but forced to revert to such primitive mobility.
The story of Nguyen's travels here is a perfect illustration of how difficult to negotiate the city can be for the disabled and is a case study in why the Taxi and Limousine Commission must move far more aggressively toward mandating a fleet of fully accessible cabs.
There was recent progress when Mayor Bloomberg persuaded the Legislature to add a few hundred accessible taxis in a deal that will also legalize street hails in the boroughs. But that will increase the percentage of wheelchair-capable cabs only to a paltry 5.4%, up from the pathetic 1.7%. Far more needs to be done, as shown by the challenges that confronted Nguyen.
Having graduated in May from hometown San Jose State University with a bachelor's degree in advertising, Nguyen flew alone into JFK Airport for five days, for meetings of an international students group, the Gay Pride Parade and sightseeing with friends.
He landed at 11 p.m. on his way to a youth hostel at Amsterdam Ave. and 103rd St. Two weeks earlier, he had traveled to Las Vegas, where taxi vans accommodated his chair. No luck at Kennedy, because only 231 of the city's 13,237 cabs are so equipped.
Instead, Nguyen took the AirTrain to Jamaica, the E train to Times Square and the No. 1 train to 96th and Broadway.
But the elevator that serves the uptown tracks was broken.
Nguyen returned to the platform, took a train to the elevated 125th St. station, descended in an elevator, crossed to the downtown side, rode an elevator up, returned to 96th St. and was happy to learn that the elevator on this side of the tracks was operating.
Then, he drove his wheelchair to the hostel at 3 a.m., completing a four-hour cross-city trip after a five-hour cross-country flight.
On Friday, Nguyen went out for a long day of photography and then headed back to the hostel, hoping to catch the M11 bus at 10th and 23rd.
A bus pulled up, but the wheelchair ramp was broken. More than an hour passed.
Nguyen's chair lacked the battery charge to drive to the subway at Penn Station. His cell phone was dead, which made little difference. As he asked, "Who would I call?"
Cabs whizzed by, none of them accessible. When finally a bus arrived, the driver explained that traffic had been blocked by celebrations farther downtown over passage of the marriage equality bill.
At 62nd St., Elizabeth Sheppeard boarded in an electric scooter. She, too, had waited for a long time after encountering the bus with the broken ramp.
On Saturday night, Nguyen went out with about 20 friends. They headed downtown by hailing a string of cabs.
"Eventually there were five of us left," Nguyen recounted in an email as they looked for an accessible taxi. "We waited for about 30 minutes and no luck, we even tried having the drivers call their dispatcher to get a van to come and that didn't work either.
"Then we decided to get on the subway and so we took a stroll from Ninth and 46th to Times Square station, just to find when we get there that the elevator to the train downtown was out of service.
"We gave up and I decided to leave my friends to go back to the hostel since the elevator to the uptown train was working, so they could go join the group."
His recent limited increase in accessible cabs notwithstanding, Bloomberg and the taxi commission have resisted expanding the wheelchair-friendly fleet. So has City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. They really ought to ride a mile in Nguyen's chair. |
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Boy walks, to surprise of school friends |
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Operations put rods in legs that could not support Jamaican, 10
By DOUG DAVIS - The Daily News Journal
LASCASSAS - Fourth-graders at Lascassas Elementary School didn't expect to see a miracle Tuesday when their friend, Jevaughn Robinson, made a farewell visit.
As the 10-year-old stood and walked to Principal Lyndal Duke, students and adults broke into spontaneous cheers.
"I was amazed," said Jake Gilliam, a Lascassas fourth-grade student who was in class with Jevaughn in the third grade last year. "I helped push his wheelchair."
Jevaughn has osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder characterized by bones that break easily.
Until August 2005, he had no wheelchair and was forced to stay at his home in Jamaica most of the time, crawling around the house.
"I saw Jevaughn three or four weeks ago. He had gone from a wheelchair to a walker," the Lascassas principal told the students. "He's going to show you what he can do."
Not only did the youngster walk, he sang a song for his former classmates in his soft, high voice:
"Stop, let me tell you what the Lord has done for me,
"He healed my body, He saved my soul.
"Baptized me with the Holy Ghost.
"Stop, and let me tell you what the Lord has done for me."
Jevaughn, his mother and his 7-month-old brother were brought to Tennessee by a Murfreesboro physician and his family, who shared their home with them.
"He has been so uplifting and grateful and praises God for his healing," said Dr. James Garner. Jevaughn "has been out of his body cast eight weeks. We have worked hard with him in the swimming pool." Before Jevaughn underwent three operations at Baptist Hospital, at no charge to his family, "his legs never held him."
Steven Dill, another former classmate of Jevaughn's, was surprised to see him walk. "It made me feel happy," Steven said.
Garner explained that Jevaughn's osteogenesis imperfecta caused "over 40 breaks of both legs. Both hips and arms fractured during birth."
The smiling boy now has eight titanium rods in his legs. After much therapy, he has progressed to using a walker and walking alone part of the time. His ultimate goal is to walk unattended.
Because the 10-year-old had missed so much schooling, he was behind others his age. He was enrolled in Lascassas Elementary in January, where he remained until surgery in April.
"He made a lot of progress and is very capable of learning," said Carrie Schlick, a resource teacher at Lascassas. "He doesn't take his education for granted. He wanted to do well and to please everyone."
The personable 10-year-old said he learned a lot in the few months he attended Lascassas. His favorite subjects are reading and math.
As Duke and Jevaughn headed from Kathy West's fourth-grade classroom to the lobby, Jevaughn counted to 100 by ones and then by fives. When he came to the school, Duke said Jevaughn could only count to 10.
"It was fun being in class and being with other friends," he said of his time in Rutherford County.
The Garners are accompanying Jevaughn home to Jamaica.
He has grown close to "Nannie and Poppy," as he calls James and Garner's wife, Sheila, and hopes to visit them again here someday.
The Garners have vacationed in Jamaica and will likely be visiting the Robinson family again.
"It was absolutely a calling," Sheila Garner said of her family's involvement with the Robinsons. "There were definitely signs that is what we were supposed to do."
The bright-eyed boy was asked what makes him the happiest about his trip here.
"To be able to walk. I can get around," he said. "I couldn't get around. I didn't (even) have a wheelchair."
Students traded high-fives Tuesday with Jevaughn and remembered their time with him last winter and spring.
"He was really strong," Abbey Hackney said. "He would play with everybody and give everyone high-fives."
Jessica Fox characterized him as someone who would never frown or get upset.
Thomas McKinstry, another classmate, said he will miss his Jamaican friend.
"He was really fun and playful," said Logan Barrett. He summed up the feelings many seemed to share: "We will always remember Jevaughn as a person who opened our eyes as a good friend." |
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Melanie - 08/08/2006
Abby is doing really well and we are nearing the 14 month of no fractures. We have started with Hydro therapy at Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg, once a week. Abby absolutely loves to swim and this makes life easier in the Hydro Pool. We have only had two sessions but the progress can already be seen. She is encouraged to raise herself up to stand on her feet. This is a miracle we were really praying for. We are in Parklands Hospital over the weekend of the 10 - 12 August for treatment. Abby will also undergo a specialised eye test for children to establish if she suffers from Stigmatism. (Cone shaped eyes). Otherwise we are all well and thank God we have not been at all effected by the flu this year, we are convinced that the multi vitamin BIO-STRATH has played a huge role. |
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