LIFE PRIOR to 2004 was totally different for Rosslare Harbour woman Sharon Colgan. She was living in Dublin, where she loved her job as a receptionist in the Irish Sports Council and, despite having a mild case of cerebral palsy, she lived a fully independent life.
Then, on a seemingly normal day in April of that year, everything changed in the blink of an eye.
Driving along with her mother Anne, Sharon (42) suddenly lost control and veered off the road. Her car slammed into the wall of a house, narrowly missing the front window by a mere inch and a half.
“How I didn’t kill someone – whether it was a woman, a man, a child, my own mother – I really don’t know. It was a miracle. I realised that I have a Guardian Angel that day,” she told The Echo.
Unfortunately, Sharon didn’t leave the accident so lucky and ended up with extensive injuries to her spine, knees and feet, resulting in surgery. Despite best efforts, she was confined to a wheelchair due to the damage to her spinal chord.
She moved to Wexford following the life-altering incident and moved on as best she could. As she explains: “You have to live with the cards that are dealt to you. You simply can’t sit around thinking ‘poor me’ – you have to get on with it.”
She still has to deal with being unable to live a ‘normal’ life like before, and has day-to-day worries of seemingly minor issues, such as whether her wheelchair will fit into a toilet space or not.
But Sharon has been determined to live independently and was delighted to be provided council housing in St. Brendan’s Estate.
Despite attempting to live as free a life as possible, she says that recent cuts to mobility payments for the disabled have taken away her independence overnight.
The Department of Health confirmed last week that it was axing the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant with immediate effect.
This followed a report from the Ombudsman which found the Government was in breach of equality legislation because eligibility for the schemes discriminated against the over 65s. However, the Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, says the Government’s move is regrettable.
Sharon fumed: “My freedom has been taken away from me at the stroke of a pen. I’ve been claiming this since 2004 – and now they suddenly decide that it is illegal?
“It’s totally out of the blue; my mother rang me up with the news and I was in a panic. €208 will be taken from me from June 26 2013 – unlucky 13.”
She added that she will not suffer alone: “This money was my one form of security; my one bit of peace of mind. But it’s not just me – approximately 5,763 people have been claiming this payment.
“When it comes to accidents, we often only hear of the people who have passed away. But 645 people a year are left with physical disabilities and long-term injuries; we just never hear of it.”
She says that this latest cut, including others such as her drug charges increasing from €6.50 to €19.50, will have a detrimental effect on her lifestyle: “I’m now going to be imprisoned in my own home. My elderly parents, who are in their 70s, are unable to lift my wheelchair so I’m feeling totally isolated.
“A taxi from where I live to Wexford town costs €25 each way, and then the cost of shopping goes on top of that. I have to budget every penny as it is. I feel like now I’m going to be a hermit in my own house. It’s like a bad dream”
The anger that Sharon feels towards the Government and particularly Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, Kathleen Lynch, is palpable.
“I call on Kathleen Lynch to step down. I have no belief in this Government – they are all out of touch. I say to them – come and live my life. Come and see how I live. Spend a day in a wheelchair with a certain amount of money and see how far you go.
“These people do not know what it’s like to live with a disability. Able-bodied people can do what they like and they can take that for granted. But the thing is – no one knows what’s around the corner. Anyone could end up in an accident and left disabled tomorrow.”
Wexford councillor Padge Reck added that he was “absolutely appalled” at the announcement that the mobility payments will be slashed.
“Irrespective of what the Government say, people with disabilities will not be getting their €208 a month from this June and that is appalling. What’s worse is that it was a Cabinet decision – that shocked me more.”
Cllr. Reck, who has been involved with Wexford’s Able-Disabled Club for a number of years, says that it is key for a person with a disability to get out and about.
“This is an entitlement we all have in life”, he says, “and to be denied of that is being denied of a life.”
“Some people may want to go to mass, to go shopping, to go dancing in a nightclub, just to get out of the house, like you and me. The aim of the Able-Disabled Club is to hammer home that we are all equal, but if you can’t get out and about to enjoy yourself then you’re being denied of being treated equally.”
