Winter 2013 In Touch - Muscular Dystrophy Association of New ...

GenY ine issue
As promised with this article, I have included a photograph
of my family’s adventure to Rabbit Island with Mum’s new
beach wheelchair. It was such fun, everybody needs one!
Since then, I have returned to Wellington and am now in
my third year of university. In fact, my first semester is over at
the end of this month, and I’ve got some big news. I have to
wait for my visa to be confirmed, but it seems that I will be
moving abroad for my second semester. I have been accepted
into my university’s exchange programme with California
State University!
I’ve been to California before, with Koru Care, however
actually moving there, knowing nobody at all, seems exciting,
daunting and completely crazy all at the same time.
One thing that makes it rather scary is the fact that I have
a disability and a wheelchair. Of course, the two go hand in
hand, but I’m a little worried about them separately.
My condition means that I have trouble with stairs and
walking long distances, but I’m not too concerned about
it because the States has a law requiring all buildings to
have disabled access. Honestly, I’m more worried about
my wheelchair. Of all the things to worry about most, the
wheelchair seems silly. After all, it is the thing that gives me so
much freedom and in many ways takes away my disability. But
I think that that’s the reason why I am so concerned about it.
If it gets a flat tire or breaks or gets stolen, it’s going
to be so much more difficult to resolve on the other
side of the world. I can’t simply call my local wheelchair
repair guy (yes, I do have one). I guess I never really
considered how much I truly relied on my wheelchair. Even
though I don’t use it inside buildings, outdoors it functions
as my legs. So the thought of losing my ‘legs’ in America,
although it sounds comical, is actually pretty scary.
With that slightly worried note, I must say that I do have
great faith in the goodness of people, so any concerns I have
are diminished when I remember that. If something drastic
does happen, I’m sure somebody will help me out.
When I’m in the ‘land of opportunity’ I definitely plan on
visiting the MDA over there, to gain some new ideas for the
youth here.
Currently myself and another youth member are organising
a Wellington meet up for younger members aged between
15-30 to be held soon. So if you’d like to be a part of that, to
meet up with us and MDA youths for a casual dinner, do get
in contact. We’d love to have as many people as we can come
along. If you’re interested, contact me at shchristie@live.com
or add me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/stacey.
christie.16
Stacey Christie,
MDA Young (Rangatahi) Representative
Stacey’s parents, Delwyn and Donald Christie, try out the
new beach wheelchair at Rabbit Island this past summer.
in touch // Winter 2013 // PAGE 36