Injured at an event

[BeyondInjured]

NC as this is massively outing. I've mentioned it under my normal posting name, so if anyone has seen it could you just not mention it here? :)

I am disabled and use a wheelchair, and i recently attended a music festival. Onsite there was a pathway which dropped down a kerb, the kerb wasnt lowered and there was no ramp. Whilst attempting to (carefully!) get down the bump, my chair tipped, i fell and hit my head, knocking myself out.

One of the onsite private ambulances was called, i came to when they arrived but was not properly aware until arrival at the medical tent, and that bit is very hazy. I remember them unsplitting the backboard to put me on the bed, i had no neck brace on. My sat o2 had dropped to low 70s so they gave me oxygen and at some point dh arrived (having been left with my chair while they took me alone)
They checked my head by feel a few times, and once my o2 was higher they kept me for an hours observation. As far as i remember noone checked my neck, and they also missed that i had wet myself. During this time they were dealing with people who had drunk too much.
After the hour i was sent back to my tent.

In pain all weekend then, but assume it is leftover aches because of the jolt and leave it.
When i got home i was still getting worse so saw my doctor, who confirmed i have whiplash from the bump, made more likely to happen by my disability. (Before going I asked for a copy of the accident report/paperwork to give to my doctor, i am still waiting...)

So, i know i need to complain, but have no idea where to start, and often feel i am being melodramatic about it. I am autistic and dont trust my own reactions.

My main points

• that there should be a dropped kerb
• that they should have noticed that someone who had lost consciousness had wet themselves (afaik its an important sign of potential problems?), and should have been more aware of potential neck injuries
• that if they are unable to deal with complications of a disability related injury, they should refer to proper a&e. If they dont know anything about the disability, dont try to bodge it.
• that a copy of paperwork should be given at th time (iirc it would be with an accident report?)

I think thats everything?

Can you help me make sense of it so i can ensure noone is put at risk next year?
Thank you :)

1. If it wasnt fine, i'd be paralysed now. Its poor practice.
2. Did you miss the bit about fitting above?
3. My health condition makes whiplash and other more serious injury more likely, if they cant cope with peculiar disabilities they should be referring on to hospital
4. I went the only way i could go
5. I have explained quite clearly what i think was wrong.

I'm surprised your dh wasn't more assertive on your behalf. I'm not clear whether you were offered A and E given you had suffered a head injury resulting in a period of unconsciousness. Most first aiders would err on the side of caution. If so, presumably you gave the impression that you/he were happy not to seek further medical attention. If not, I think the lack of care is more significant than lack of ramp and you taking a risk bumping down a kerb.

What they did wrong was have no ramp, if they're going to be 'accessible' then they have an obligation to make sure the entrances and exits are both accessible!

If there was a dropped kerb, then the OP will not have been the only wheelchair user who will have had to negotiate that dropped kerb, nor the only one to put herself at risk, she may also NOT be the only one who suffered a tipped wheelchair, it could have happened to anyone.

OP, please do write it all down in a letter and then send copies to the relevant people... both about the inadequate provision for access and the neglectful medical care.. .you ought to have been sent to hospital!

Gin it's not acceptable to expect a wheelchair user to have help at hand or be able to request it. The venue should have been accessible and wasn't. As a result of the venue not meeting accessibility requirements the OP was injured.

The OP has expressly stated they don't require compensation. What they do require is

A) Accessibilty to be remedied for the next event
B) first aid/medical cover to be reviewed

Neither of which I think are unreasonable requests.

Oh and it's considered appropriate by professionals that my 8 year old DD manage her own mobility independently. To facilitate this we've provided her with a powerchair as self propelling isn't possible when you have CFS.

Independently. Not having to ask for help constantly because places are inaccessible. Not that she can ask, she's autistic.

Thank you, as i said i dont trust my own judement so it really throws me when someone posts it is all my fault.

And also thanks to bishop for pointing out that autism makes it very difficult to ask for help

Honestly.
"Oh yeah, we'll make adjustments for disabled people, as long as they norm up".

I would.write to the organisers about the accessibility issues and the problems with your aftercare.

Also check out 'attitude is everything' Who are helping make music venues and events accessible to those who are deaf and/or disabled.

OP.

Jeez the constant disablist narrative on MN is getting tedious.

I absolutely think the point about the not dropped kerb should be addressed. Reasonable adjustments should be made for those in wheelchairs. A ramp on a main path it a reasonable adjustment IMO and one I would have expected them to make.

You chose to go over the bump rather than ask for help. You chose to take the risk.
What exactly do you expect a person in a powered wheelchair to do?
Other people can't always help, nor should they have to when the duty is on the venue to make their facilities accessible.

What happens when a well-meaning member of the public who has no idea how to maneuver a wheelchair, injures the persons themselves or damages their wheelchair?

A wheelchair user cannot be expected to just stop or turn around and go home because the organisers have failed in their duty. She was forced into taking the risk.

The poor medical care compounds the problem.

I find it staggering that some people are so ignorant of the difficulties disabled people face, then blame them for it! Like it is so unreasonable for their needs to be taken into consideration!

I've had to tell a well meaning passer by to stop helping before now because both me and chair are in excess of 209kg and he was trying to lift me, he'd have killed his back!
(I was waiting for a ramp)

Op's DH was with her. She wasn't at the mercy of the general public.

Besides the point.
Accessibility requires that the wheelchair user or mobility impaired person can mobilise independently. My power chair is quite light, under 100kg. I'd not expect my DH to have to bear that weight, it has the potential to injure him, me or both of us.

Power chairs are heavy and her husband wouldn't have been able to help with the drop kerb.

There should've been a ramp.

I have several family members with various disabilities and accessing music events take a lot of planning. To get somewhere and find the access isn't as advertised or has changed makes things a lot harder for everyone.

and is illegal

Hope this is ok to link to www.attitudeiseverything.org.uk/about-us/campaigns/musicwithoutbarriers/

Op's DH was with her. She wasn't at the mercy of the general public.
Did I miss him being a weightlifter and able to pick up a 209kg wheelchair?

Why should the op have to rely on help from anyone? There should be a ramp.

Op's DH was with her. She wasn't at the mercy of the general public.
That's irrelevant, the duty was on the organisers to make it accessible.
He DH (or whoever was with her) may not have been capable of helping her. The chair was too heavy to lift, you can't move them in the same way as a manual wheelchair, and I don't think he would have made a very suitable human ramp.

Disabled people should have the same right to access events as a non-disabled person. They should not have to take a carer and assortment of ramps with them wherever they go.

Disabled people are actually real people just like everyone else, who want to do the same things as everyone else does - if that isn't too much to ask?

I guess it comes down to whether there was a simple accessible route back down when you exited that was well signposted and you chose not to use, or whether , as it sounds, there was just no accessible exit.

I would definitely contact them to raise accessibility issues.

I'm not as sure on the medical side - it sounds as though you should have been taken to A and E, which they should have done.

Dear me, there are some right disablist arseholes on here. It's perfectly simple, the festival organisers had a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. Providing a ramp is a very reasonable adjustment. Clearly they should have done so.

As people point out, it is ludicrous to say that OP's husband or a passer-by should have helped. What was he supposed to do? Position himself so the wheelchair fell on him?

And yes, I would expect qualified doctors to have done a much better job including sending OP to A&E.

Can I just point out that it wasn't until several comments after mine that it came to light we were talking about a powered wheelchair weighing half a ton?
Before that, I don't think a comment asking why her DH couldn't have just helped out was particularly outlandish or inappropriate.
I still maintain that if she was unsure of the drop she could have asked for assistance. Fair enough if assistance wasn't forthcoming she couldn't wait around all day but as far as I can tell by information shared, she didn't ask at all.

I still maintain that if she was unsure of the drop she could have asked for assistance.
What could anyone have done to help?
Who was she supposed to ask?

So what, KateLives? Do you accept that the issue wouldn't have arisen at all if the organisers had complied with their legal duty and provided a ramp or made other arrangements to make the place fully wheelchair accessible? And does any of that make any difference whatsoever to the failures with regard to medical care?

Kate your posts read to me as though you're saying disabled people shouldn't really be out and about alone/ without a carer?

One of the many challenges faced with disability can be becoming isolated and feeling like a second class citizen.

Society has therefore created various bits of legislation and reasonable adjustments should be made to cater for reasonably predictable occurances like a high curb being difficult to negotiate in a wheel chair whether its 60kg or 200kg.

The fact that the curb was high and would be hard to negotiate was entirely predictable and seasoned event holders should have put in provision to mitagate the risk i.e. a ramp or alternate access path clearly signed for mobility impared.

OP