‘Stuck in bed’: lack of rural wheelchair service blasted

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This article was published 13/07/2023 (829 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alex Lytwyn loses a day every time his power wheelchair needs maintenance or repairs.

The Winnipegosis resident must wait for repairs to be completed in Winnipeg, an eight-hour round-trip drive away. His parents take a day off from work to transport his wheelchair to the capital city because rural wheelchair maintenance service is no longer offered in Manitoba.

“In the meantime, I’m stuck in bed,” Lytwyn said.

If the maintenance goes as scheduled, he’ll have his wheelchair back within 12 to 14 hours. Without it, he doesn’t have basic mobility. His wheelchair has to have maintenance in Winnipeg three or four times a year.

The lack of wheelchair maintenance service in rural Manitoba cuts off a “lifeline” for users outside Winnipeg, the 37-year-old disability advocate said.

Lytwyn is on the board of directors of Manitoba Possible and has been working as an ambassador for the agency, which is responsible for providing wheelchairs to Manitobans. He also runs a home business, Willpower Media.

He has used a wheelchair for more than 30 years because he has cerebral palsy.

“It’s basically my lifeline,” he said.

“When I don’t have it, I really have no dignity and it’s hard to live,” Lytwyn said. “What the government doesn’t understand is, it’s not something we just use every now and then… it’s the only way we move around.”

He said rural services for wheelchair users have declined over the years. A decade ago, house calls still took place and the maintenance work could be done at his residence.

“I think the government just sees us as numbers, and they don’t see us as human beings,” Lytwyn said.

“They don’t know what we have to go through every day just to live basic lives, and if they were to increase funding, we could give back to society more.”

Manitoba Possible has been calling for a funding increase that would allow it to offer equitable service to rural Manitoba wheelchair users. The wheelchair program is funded through the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s home care budget, and hasn’t been increased since the 2011-12 provincial budget.

The provincial government hasn’t promised to review the level of funding. In previous public statements, Manitoba Health said the government had increased Manitoba Possible’s funding by more than $550,000 in the 2022-23 budget, but none of that money is directed to the wheelchair program. The funds are specifically dedicated to separate programs run by Manitoba Possible and can’t be used for wheelchair services, the agency stated.

“We are not permitted, under any circumstances, to use that funding to support the wheelchair program. Doing so would be a breach of the contract we have with the department of families,” Manitoba Possible stated.

Technicians should be hired to travel to northern Manitoba to fix wheelchairs, rather than expecting wheelchair users to travel or send their wheelchairs to Winnipeg, said Thompson resident Kristopher Blake.

Blake, 46, also has cerebral palsy and relies on a wheelchair. In the past, he’s had to miss work — as a janitor for the City of Thompson — when his wheelchair needs to be repaired. He must send the motorized wheelchair to Winnipeg via a trucking service. It can take anywhere from three days to two weeks to get his wheelchair back.

“It drains my physical health and it drains my mental health, because I’m isolated, I can’t go anywhere,” said Blake, a past president of People First of Manitoba, a self-advocacy organization for people with disabilities.

Before he got a new power wheelchair last year, his older model needed frequent maintenance until eventually the manufacturer stopped producing parts for it.

He said his mother lobbied for months to secure separate funding through the Cerebral Palsy Association for him to get a back-up manual wheelchair that he uses to get to work. Only one wheelchair per person is typically covered in Manitoba.

“If you live outside of Winnipeg and you’re dealing with mobility issues, it’s a hundred times harder,” Blake said. He called on the province to “shape up.”

“I have rights just like everybody else.”

In Winnipeg on Thursday, disability advocates will rally to raise awareness about disability issues in advance of the October provincial election. The Disability Matters campaign launch, which aims to highlight disability issues and ensure everyone with disabilities is able to exercise their right to vote, is set to begin at The Forks CN Stage and Field at 1:30 p.m.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com