Interview #8: Bonnie Downey (Broken Ankle and Wrist)

Rotten apples and broken bones lead to greater understanding for the need of better design options.

Bonnie Downey and her husband Mike are great friends from our church. She and her husband were friends with my aunt and uncle in college at James Madison University, back in the 80s. When we met them in 2012, we found out that we have a lot in common and she got me back into playing volleyball! Bonnie is a first grade teacher and is very independent and active.

Mike, Bonnie, and their grandson sitting at a JMU football game cheering on the Dukes!

Near the end of 2017, Bonnie was spending the day with her family and had an unexpected encounter with a rotten apple at a local orchard. She stepped on the apple, slipped, and broke her left ankle and her left wrist. During her recovery, she had her first experience with using mobility devices and needing to be dependent on others for help. She was willing to share her experience and the lessons she learned.

Interview with Bonnie Downey. Captions included.

After she was stabilized, medicated, and casted at the hospital, she was discharged to go home. Because she was not admitted to the hospital (and thus not having any time with a therapist), she went home without any equipment. As an occupational therapist, I find this frustrating, because if people go home without temporary equipment, they’re going to have to figure out how to manage everything on their own. A common consequence is that people resort to options that aren’t safe, creating a risk of further injury.

Bonnie getting ready to leave ER after falling, sitting in a transport wheelchair with left leg and left arm casted.

Mike and Bonnie live in a home with a flight of steps to their main living area. With strict orders not to put any weight on her left arm and left leg, she and Mike had to get creative in how to deal with the stairs. With a little help from a desk chair with wheels and/or scooting on her bottom, they figured out how to move around the home. They remembered her mother’s rolling walker (with a seat) stored in the basement, and they pulled that out in hopes of it helping Bonnie move around easier. She found that sitting on a seat and scooting around with her good leg helped her move through the main level of their home. They also had someone loan her a knee scooter.

Home Sweet Home?

Thankfully her bedroom and bathroom were on the main level, but she quickly discovered some obstacles:

1. Throw rugs and carpet were difficult to move on with the walker and knee scooter, and were a trip hazard. Thankfully they redid their floors last year and just had sectional rugs, which made it easy to remove them until she can walk without equipment. She did fall on carpet downstairs once while on her knee scooter. That was very scary, as she needed to protect her wrist and ankle in the fall.
2. Thresholds were noticeably taller than she realized. When rolling over them she had to be careful as the wheels would catch and throw her balance off, often unexpectedly. She suggests that when decks are built they somehow create an easier transition over the threshold so there is not step or large bumpy track to roll over.
3. Small door frames prevented her from getting the walker into rooms (like the bathroom), so she had to hop in and out. This made the thought of needing to go to the bathroom stressful! She couldn’t close the bathroom door and had to ask guests to stay in an area of her house so they couldn’t see through the open door. Wider door frames and the ability to close the door while someone is inside is a must!
4. Toilets and chairs were too low for her to easily stand up from. Mike & Bonnie had to put extra cushions in the recliner for her to get up easily. She also didn’t care for adaptations that raise toilet seats because they’re bulky and difficult to clean.
5. Items in the kitchen were out of reach while Bonnie was sitting down, so she had to have Mike get out-of-reach items prior to him leaving the house.
6. Cooking became a problem-solving exercise as she needed to figure out how to prep items while seated, and with one usable hand. She utilized lower tables and scooted around while sitting on the rolling walker. Her first project was to make an apple pie (showing those apples who was boss!). She also found her countertops to be too high to work effectively while she was sitting down.
7. She didn’t have a seat to sit on in the shower and tried using a plastic deck chair. She soon realized that it wasn’t a safe option, and was able to obtain a bench with suction cups that was donated from her sister-in-law’s workplace. Thankfully Mike & Bonnie had replaced their previous tub with a shower that only had a small step to deal with. Their handheld showerhead and storage areas in the shower (for shampoo/conditioner/soap) was very helpful.
8. She felt stuck in her home as she couldn’t easily get outside. There is a step from the house onto the deck, and at times she just had to open the door and sit inside while getting fresh air and watching the leaves. Plus, she had to navigate the flight of steps back down to her car, which was just too difficult to do by herself at times.
9. Opening and closing her window coverings was difficult because she had to stand up to operate them. She found that standing and sitting repetitively throughout the day was exhausting, plus this made her “good leg” more overworked than normal.

Community

Bonnie quickly realized that leaving her home and going into the community for work, appointments, leisure, and socialization took more time and energy. She primarily used a knee scooter and crutches for shorter distances, but was able to get a powered scooter for use at work. As she’s a very independent person, she wanted to continue to be independent. Needing to rely on others to get around and complete tasks she normally did by herself was frustrating.

Bonnie sitting in a powered scooter in her 1st grade classroom. She has a knee high walking boot on her left food and a brace on her left wrist.

It took weeks to feel comfortable to go to the grocery store alone, and that was an adventure in itself. Here are some insights:

1. How do you get the motorized carts (that are stored inside) when you need one at your car? Do you call them to come bring it to you?
2. What do you do with your groceries in your cart when you need to go into the bathroom and the sign says “no merchandise in the bathrooms,” but you need to take the cart into the bathroom in order to access the stall.
3. Maneuvering mobility equipment in the “accessible” stalls can be frustrating; sometimes there isn’t enough room.
4. The credit card readers at checkout are usually mounted for people who are standing. She found it difficult to read the screen because they didn’t adjust to a lower angle.

She would often stay home and not attend activities because of the extra effort it would take to get inside.

1. Getting into others homes with steps makes her use a lot of energy.
2. She found that the “accessible route” was often a longer route. While the accessible parking was close to an entrance, she’d have to take the long way around to find a curb cut out to get onto the sidewalk.
3. Emotionally speaking, it was difficult to not be active and to have people look at her differently because she was in a wheelchair or using another mobility device.
4. Whenever she went somewhere she had to have others help load and unload her wheelchair or knee scooter.

How can communities make it easier to participate in activities?

Educate people. Help them become aware of the needs of people that have disabilities… I don’t think every single person understands what it’s like, I didn’t, clearly didn’t understand what it was like to be in a wheelchair. Even if it’s part time, it’s been a hard pill to swallow… there are some components in the community that make things more accessible, but I think more can be done.

She discusses how easy it was for her to get out to JMU football games because of the ease of parking, bus transportation to the stadium, and ease of exchanging tickets for accessible seating.

Picture of Mike, Bonnie, Chris, Jenny, and Scott at a JMU football game. Bonnie and Scott are sitting in wheelchairs.

She did find ways to enjoy activities in the community after her accident, but it was definitely a learning experience to move around on wheels versus on foot. She had to give herself more time to get places, and make adjustments to her schedule. She continues to have OT and PT to improve strength and range of motion in her wrist and leg to get back to walking and being active. For now she’s had to stop playing some recreational sports like golf and volleyball until she’s all healed and medically cleared to play again.

Bonnie sitting in her wheelchair (boot on left leg and cast on left wrist) surrounded by some of the players on her recreational league volleyball team.

Final Thoughts

During our video conversation, I was explaining how some accessible features are available in our communities (which is great), but even so, some things aren’t considered, which results in barriers to full participation. Bonnie adds:

“You’ve got people that have not been through an accident or been through a time in their lives where they can’t do things themselves and, and you’ve got those people doing the planning. You really need someone like Sarah and Scott who understand what it is to go through that and do the planning. And that’s why what you’re doing is great!”

That’s exactly what we’re doing with our organization, and NO we didn’t pay her to say that! The Universal Design Project is connecting with people who have been affected by disability, health professionals, and design professionals in effort to work together to create plans that have been designed to meet the needs of as many people as possible.

“I would love for a community to be able to rally behind people that might have disabilities, and just make them feel like they’re regular people. Just because we’re in a wheelchair, just because we can’t do certain things, or talk like you talk, or walk like you walk, we’re still people and you still think and feel. We may not always show it, or or say it, but I would love for the community to recognize that about everybody, including me.”

I think Bonnie’s story is important for all to hear. My husband always says, “they call them accidents for a reason,” because these things aren’t planned. However, we can plan our homes to be ready for when things like this happen so the unexpected isn’t so frustrating. Designing for universal accessibility from the start makes homes more functional and helps people be more independent… for whatever rotten apples life throws at you.

universaldesign.org

P.S.: If you’d like to share your story, contact me: sarah@universaldesign.org and we can set up a time to talk!