Julie Salmon represented Wales at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games
Once one of the strongest women in Wales, former weightlifter Julie Salmon now struggles to open her front door due to being confined to a wheelchair.
TV presenter Matthew Bassett, who suffered a spinal cord injury 11 years ago, explores whether enough has been done to help prevent isolation among disabled people.
“My caregivers say to me, ‘Do you need something done now?’ I say: ‘Yes, a new life'”.
Former Paralympian Julie, 54, needs help opening her front door.
As a wheelchair user, it is so disheartening to see someone who was one of the strongest women in Wales feel so alone and isolated in her own home.
Some disabled people have said that very little has improved since the landmark legislation of more than 10 years ago. I have seen with my own eyes how little things have changed for some.
The Welsh government said it was “fully committed to advancing equality for all disabled people in Wales”.
However, there needs to be major improvements in handicap access, in all sorts of places, to prevent people from feeling lonely.
I suffered a spinal cord injury when I was 19 years old, jumped into the sea and hit my head on a sandbar.
Julie, who lives near Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was just four years old when she was hit by a car, leaving her a paraplegic.
That didn’t stop her from aiming high and she went on to become one of the strongest women in Wales competing at the Delhi Commonwealth Games and Athens Paralympics.
But she can’t even open or close the door to her house without help and she said she wants more of their care.
“I wake up in the morning, wait for the district nurses to arrive, and then I go out and walk around the streets.
“Then I wait outside for someone to come and open the door for me, and then I wait for my night watchmen to come in,” she said.
“You are a prisoner inside or a prisoner outside. I just want to get back to the sport, I want to be healthy, I want to go on vacation, I want to be a normal person.”
“I just feel like it’s not worth living anymore, or why am I disabled?
“In weightlifting and sports, they always try to tell you ‘forget the negatives and turn them into something positive.’ But right now I feel like I can’t do something positive.”
Unfortunately, there are many cases like Julie’s, but all it takes are simple accommodations like an accessible door, an appropriate care package, and greater understanding, and things could change dramatically.
Julie said that sometimes she feels like a prisoner in her own home.
A plan to address disability access, independent living and employment in Wales will be published next year. working group on the rights of people with disabilities.
Time and time again we have seen the same problems: poor accessibility, lack of carers, overburdened mental health services and inadequate care packages that prevent people from living full lives.
Dr. Gareth Thomas is a psychologist and created the Adapt Gateway, which helps people with disabilities.
For the last 16 years he has been researching disability and said there were thousands of people in Wales with a spinal cord injury who rarely left home.
According to his research, the lack of public access for wheelchair users is one of the main barriers for people to leave their home.
Many people, including me, don’t want to depend on others to travel, we don’t want to think of ourselves as a burden.
There can also be health issues related to our injuries, sometimes our bodies let us down.
It’s understandable that some people with disabilities just don’t want to deal with these issues, so stay home.
Matthew Bassett (left) met with Dr. Thomas (right) to discuss his research on accessibility for wheelchair users.
Dr Thomas said very little had improved for some people with disabilities since the Equality Act in 2010, or even when he was injured in the 1990s.
“Our idea of accessibility and a company’s idea of accessibility are completely different. If you think that in a workplace, for example, if you have a disabled toilet…they think they’ve done their job, that’s just not the case. “.
“Even going to a restaurant, they will have an accessible bathroom, but it will be right at the back of the building and it will be up maybe two steps.
“In 30 or 40 years nothing has changed, the way life is now where everything matters, people with disabilities matter, we matter, but who cares?”
When you think that in Wales there are thousands of people living with a spinal injury, many more with a disability and a fraction of us in paid work or volunteering, it makes you wonder why.
The Welsh government said the specification for specialist rehabilitation services across its seven health boards was being updated.
A spokesperson added: “We are fully committed to advancing equality for all disabled people in Wales.
“We believe that independent living should not simply be a basic need, but should help ensure that all people with disabilities can participate equally in society and can reach their full potential.”