Paralysed but not defeated

[Max]

Paralysed but not defeated

WHEEL POWER with ANTHONY THANASAYAN
Imagine if you woke up each morning and found yourself unable to move a muscle in your body from your neck downwards. What would you do? What can you do?

You can't turn around or reach the telephone without help from someone in your family. The only thing you could do is yell for help. But then again, your voice soon becomes hoarse that chances are nobody would be able to hear you unless the house is very still and quiet, and your voice is somehow able to penetrate through the thick walls and door of your room and somebody hears you.

From that moment onwards, everything that you do would depend on another, or perhaps, even two persons. In short, you'd need help in getting through another day, whereby you sit up on your bed, transfer yourself from your bed to your wheelchair, attend to the calls of nature, brush your teeth and comb your hair, have someone feed you breakfast etc.

This scenario may sound like a nightmare to most of us but for people who are tetraplegic, it's just another normal day. People like Kalliyaney Kuppan, or Kala, as her friends fondly know her in her neighbourhood of Bahai Lalang, Sungei Pelek in Sepang, Selangor. The 36-year-old became paralysed from her neck down in Banting, Selangor, in 1991.

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/stor...8&sec=features

[Max]