I went to school with the lovely lady in the middle picture. She’s a disability rights lawyer and activist who has always been vocal about fair treatment for all citizens. Super nice, super funny. She can walk short distances but primarily relies on a motorized wheelchair because her gait makes it really difficult to do more than that.
Our senior year the dorm we were in fought against her having a room on the third floor because she wouldn’t be able to use the elevator to get out in case of a fire, they wanted her to stay on the first floor but she had been living in first floor rooms her whole time at college and she wanted to be able to keep her window curtains opened without people having direct line of sight in her place.
So a few buddies and I came up with a plan for her. In the event of an emergency we’d have numerous people on the same floor as her (in various areas) who would make sure Steph was carried down the stairs on one of our backs. Emergency escape plan established.
The kicker of the whole situation was that there was a dorm room with a handicap bathroom on the third floor. Why the fuck would you put a handicap room on a third floor and then insist a person with a disability who actually needs a handicap room can’t use it? I understand they probably had to have a certain number of handicap access rooms but it sets up such a ridiculous situation.
Edit: Looking back on it, I’m pretty positive pretty much everyone would’ve stopped to help her, and her room was right next to the stairs and she was very well known. But her nursing student buddies definitely had her back.
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 25: U.S. Capitol Police arrest protesters from handicap advocacy organizations as they shout and interrupt a Senate Finance Committee hearing about the proposed Graham-Cassidy Healthcare Bill in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 25, 2017 in Washington, DC. Demonstrators disrupted the hearing to protest the legislation, the next in a series of Republican proposals to replace the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
In this Thursday, June 22, 2017 file photo, Stephanie Woodward, of Rochester, N.Y., who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, is removed from a sit-in at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office as she and other disability rights advocates protest proposed funding caps to Medicaid, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Despite repeated efforts, majority Republicans in Congress failed to repeal Barack Obama's health care law and replace it with new plan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 25: U.S. Capitol Police drag a blind protester out of a Senate Finance Committee hearing about the proposed Graham-Cassidy Healthcare Bill in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 25, 2017 in Washington, DC. Demonstrators disrupted the hearing to protest the legislation, the next in a series of Republican proposals to replace the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
ravs1973 on January 7th, 2021 at 15:10 UTC »
But they were not armed, in fact some literally didn't have arms.
TheMarkHasBeenMade on January 7th, 2021 at 15:44 UTC »
I went to school with the lovely lady in the middle picture. She’s a disability rights lawyer and activist who has always been vocal about fair treatment for all citizens. Super nice, super funny. She can walk short distances but primarily relies on a motorized wheelchair because her gait makes it really difficult to do more than that.
Our senior year the dorm we were in fought against her having a room on the third floor because she wouldn’t be able to use the elevator to get out in case of a fire, they wanted her to stay on the first floor but she had been living in first floor rooms her whole time at college and she wanted to be able to keep her window curtains opened without people having direct line of sight in her place.
So a few buddies and I came up with a plan for her. In the event of an emergency we’d have numerous people on the same floor as her (in various areas) who would make sure Steph was carried down the stairs on one of our backs. Emergency escape plan established.
The kicker of the whole situation was that there was a dorm room with a handicap bathroom on the third floor. Why the fuck would you put a handicap room on a third floor and then insist a person with a disability who actually needs a handicap room can’t use it? I understand they probably had to have a certain number of handicap access rooms but it sets up such a ridiculous situation.
Edit: Looking back on it, I’m pretty positive pretty much everyone would’ve stopped to help her, and her room was right next to the stairs and she was very well known. But her nursing student buddies definitely had her back.
Spartan2470 on January 7th, 2021 at 15:52 UTC »
Here are higher quality versions of these images. The sources are as follows:
Top:
Middle:
Bottom: